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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was reprimanded by the stewards for failing to slow down enough under a virtual safety car during the final tests of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Ironically, the VSC was triggered by Ferrari's Leclerc teammate Sebastian Vettel, who hit the wall at Sainte-Devote at the start of the 60-minute session.
While the team was already worried about getting the damaged SF90 back into the pit lane in time to repair the front wing and left suspension for qualifying, Ferrari management learned that Leclerc should face the stewards for a violation of the VSC that could have resulted in a grid penalty for Sunday's race.
Fortunately, however, the stewards took a more lenient view and chose to give the local hero a tap on the fingers that will have no impact on his race weekend.
"The stewards reviewed the video and telemetry evidence and heard the driver of the car 16 (Charles Leclerc) and the team representative," the FIA statement said.
"The driver clearly and properly braked before turn 1 in response to the corner incident.The VSC appeared as it was between Turn 1 and Turn 2," the statement said.
"The pilot slowed significantly, but he stayed below the minimum time set by the FIA ECU until the end of lap 8".
The notification confirmed that it was a matter of de facto violation of article 40.5 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
"The Stewards recognized that the pilot was considerably slower than a normal lap throughout the sequence, however, since the VSC is imposed for safety reasons, the Stewards determined that the violation must be recognized. "
In choosing to limit the penalty to a simple reprimand – the first Leclerc to have been received so far this season – the stewards explained that this was consistent with the previous decision.
"The stewards therefore impose a reprimand, which is consistent with similar cases during the test sessions," said the FIA.
Although Ferrari and Leclerc have the right to appeal the reprimand, they have little reason to do so, and everyone in the garage is probably relieved to be able to get rid of the fear and be able to fix Vettel's car to time. for Q1.
After the VSC incident, Leclerc clocked the fastest time in FP3 with his best lap in 1: 11.265, placing him one-half-tenth faster than Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton still has two tenths more than Ferrari's reference time.
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