Charles Leclerc hit with three place grid penalty for Styrian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc’s Sunday afternoon has become even harder after the stewards handed him a three-place grid penalty for the Styrian Grand Prix for impeding Daniil Kvyat during qualifying…

The Ferrari driver, who ended up 11th fastest in the classification, was adjudged to have held up his AlphaTauri rival during Q2 at the Red Bull Ring.

As a result, he will now start 14th on the grid, with the Williams of George Russell promoted one place to 11th, with Lance Stroll and Kvyat also gaining a position as a result.

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"Video evidence and telemetry data clearly showed that the driver of Car 26 [Kvyat] was impeded by Car 16 [Leclerc] in turns 9 and 10," said the stewards.

"Although the weather conditions might have affected the visibility in the rear view mirrors and the driver had no intention of impeding another car, the Stewards determine that the driver of Car 16 must have been aware of Car 26 approaching, could have reacted differently and therefore impose the above mentioned penalty."

Leclerc was also called to the stewards to discuss an alleged breach of the red flag regulations – the session was red-flagged following Antonio Giovinazzi’s crash – but the officials took no further action.

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“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 16 (Charles Leclerc) and the team representative and have reviewed video evidence,” said the statement.

“The red flag came at the moment the driver of Car 16 was approaching the entry of Turn 9 and the driver was fully committed to the turn.

“The driver braked hard, did not accelerate after turn 9 and considered entering the pit lane by crossing the white line at pit entry, but felt it would have been unsafe do so. The driver reacted appropriately, continued on track and drove the lap afterwards at safe speeds.”