Penalty pain for Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll as FIA reveal post-sprint punishments
Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll were both punished after the Sprint in Qatar.
Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll have both been given five-second time penalties for leaving the track on multiple occasions during the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday.
Track limits have been heavily policed all weekend, and both drivers were punished by the FIA for going beyond the limits on too many occasions after the chequered flag.
Leclerc lost two points as a result, dropping from seventh place to 12th, while Stroll dropped from 13th to 15th once the penalty took effect.
FIA give reasons for Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll penalties
In the stewards’ verdicts, the FIA said both Leclerc and Stroll left the track on four occasions “without justifiable reason” during the Sprint on Saturday, hence why their penalties were applied.
This was especially costly for Leclerc, who had held on for points at the chequered flag on rapidly degrading soft tyres, while Stroll was not in points contention during the Sprint as a whole.
Elsewhere, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were all summoned to the stewards after they collided during the Sprint.
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Hulkenberg was the unwitting filling in a sandwich between former team-mates Ocon and Perez, who both tried to overtake the Haas driver at the same time heading down to Turn 2.
With Ocon on his inside and Perez on his outside, the Alpine of Ocon tagged Hulkenberg and Perez made contact too, before Ocon went spearing into the side of Perez and took both drivers out of the race.
Perez not finishing helped Max Verstappen seal his third consecutive World Championship, though because he was already second behind Oscar Piastri, that would have been enough to see the Dutchman over the line in his quest for the title.
Read next:Qatar Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri wins Sprint, Max Verstappen crowned three-time World Champion
