F1 stewards privately admit to making a big mistake during the Belgian GP
The FIA stewards have now admitted they made a mistake at the Belgian Grand Prix, which might have changed the final race result.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won the race at Spa-Francorchamps, increasing his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 45 points.
Right behind him was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. He got a boost from a virtual safety car (VSC) period, which allowed him to pit and briefly take the lead before Antonelli passed him again.
Leclerc also escaped a penalty after a collision with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
On lap 8, Piastri tried to overtake Leclerc on the outside of the Kemmel Straight. But Leclerc squeezed Piastri towards the left edge of the track, resulting in contact. Piastri’s car floor was damaged, and he finished fifth after being overtaken by Leclerc’s own teammate, Lewis Hamilton, near the end.
Piastri said Leclerc was “lucky” not to get a penalty and should have at least received a black-and-white flag—a final warning.
Leclerc admitted on Thursday that he may have “gone a bit too far” defending his position. He said, “I think I agree with Oscar. I try to push to the limit in the car, but with Oscar, maybe I went a bit too far, and that’s not how I want to race all the time.”
According to The Race, the stewards admitted during a meeting before the Hungarian Grand Prix that they made a mistake by not punishing Leclerc and that he probably should have had a five-second penalty. At the time, they thought Leclerc was just following a normal racing line and that Piastri didn’t have a real chance to pass.
Piastri was alongside Leclerc before the corner, but Leclerc braked a bit later and then moved across him. Other drivers were reportedly uneasy about the possible new rules this might set for defending in braking zones.
Even though Leclerc publicly admitted some fault, he told the stewards the incident wasn’t completely black and white.
In the official FIA decision after the race, it said: “Approaching turn 5, car 81 [Piastri] tried to overtake car 16 [Leclerc] on the outside. Car 81 had some overlap but its front axle wasn’t ahead of car 16’s, so there was no chance to complete the pass. The stewards felt car 16 did not deliberately push car 81 off the track. Car 16 followed the racing line but moved slightly left before turn 5, resulting in side-to-side contact. Because of this, the stewards decided to take no further action.”