Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has been handed a €10,000 fine, half of which suspended, for swearing in the Mexico Grand Prix’s post-race press conference.

After finishing third in Mexico City, Leclerc used an expletive in the FIA press conference to describe his thinking as he went off the track at Mexico’s final corner, which allowed McLaren driver Lando Norris through to claim second.

“I had one oversteer and then when I recovered from that oversteer, I had an oversteer from the other side and then I was like, ‘f***’,” Leclerc said.

He then realised he might get in trouble over his choice of words given FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s recent crackdown on swearing, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen handed a community service penalty for his own use of the word in Singapore.

“Oh, sorry! Oh no, I don’t want to join Max,” Leclerc laughed.

But after investigating the matter on Friday evening in Brazil, the FIA stewards decided to hand the Ferrari driver a €10,000 fine instead, with €5,000 suspended provided there is no repeat offence over the next 12 months.

Explaining their verdict, the stewards argued that Leclerc immediately being apologetic was a mitigating factor in his punishment, and that Leclerc’s offence was not at the same level as Verstappen’s swearing in Singapore.

Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Advertisement

“The Stewards reviewed the transcript of the Post-Race Drivers’ Press Conference in Mexico and found that Charles Leclerc, the driver of car 16, used language in response to a somewhat leading question asking him ‘What did you say to yourself’ in relation to the significant moment towards the end of the race when Leclerc was fighting to control the car at the exit of the last corner,” the verdict read.

“In response, Leclerc used coarse language being the accurate recollection of what he thought to himself at the time. Leclerc immediately realized his error and apologized. Such language is not considered suitable for broadcast.

“This is “Misconduct” as defined in Article 20 of the International Sporting Code, and is a breach of Article 12.2.1.k. The Stewards noted that the language was not directed at anyone or any group and that Leclerc immediately apologised.

“During the hearing Leclerc expressed his regret for his momentary lack of judgment and shared that he understood his responsibility as a role model for the sport. The Stewards considered the mitigation factor that Leclerc was immediately apologetic.

“The Stewards while noting that the driver’s contrite behavior conclude that a breach has occurred and a penalty is warranted. The Stewards do not consider that this breach reached the same level as the most recent case and as such chose to levy a fine of €10,000 with €5,000 suspended pending no repeat within 12 months.”

Verstappen therefore remains the only F1 driver to serve community service penalties, with the Dutchman previously joining the FIA stewards at the 2019 Formula E round in Marrakesh as an observer to gain a better understanding of how they worked.

Verstappen was given the penalty for shoving Esteban Ocon in parc ferme at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Later on, Verstappen also joined a meeting of the FIA’s International Stewards Programme as part of his community service.

Oscar Piastri says he would be willing to give up a potential victory in the sprint race of Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix to help McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in the championship, despite getting pole position in sprint qualifying on Friday.

Norris trails title favourite Max Verstappen by 47 points after taking 10 out of the Dutchman’s lead in Mexico, and the Briton will have to increase the rate of points he is gaining if he is to overhaul the Red Bull driver by Abu Dhabi’s season finale.

McLaren decided at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to support Norris in his title bid, with Piastri expected to help his team-mate if the situation called for it. At the time McLaren said Piastri wouldn’t be asked to sacrifice grand prix victories for Norris. But the Australian says he wouldn’t have a problem with handing his partner a less important sprint win, with a one-point difference between each position in the top eight.

“We’ll see what the pace is like tomorrow for both of us,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1. “I think first and second is the first objective, and then we’ll see what the order it is.

“I know Lando is in the running for the drivers’ standings, and for the team it doesn’t matter which way around we are.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Asked if he would give away a victory, he replied: “Yes, I’ve said I would when we had these discussions. It would be nice to win, but it’s a one-point difference and it’s not the main race, so we’ll see.

“Lando needs the points in the driver standings a lot more than I do. Of course, I still want to win, so I put in the effort and have good pace that I’m sure that won’t go unnoticed.”

Piastri grabbed Sao Paulo’s sprint pole over Norris by a mere 0.029s as McLaren secured a front-row lockout, which has been somewhat of a return to one-lap form for Piastri after struggling to match Norris in qualifying lately.

“I think it was coming together maybe a bit better than we expected, but I think we felt pretty comfortable after FP1 this morning,” he explained.

“The [resurfaced] track was just moving on really quickly, it was like a second and a half quicker by the end. The last lap on softs, they hung on for a second lap, which was nice, and I managed to put it on pole.”

Piastri said McLaren’s new rear wing, which is an option in between its low- and medium-downforce wings, delivered as expected and was a nice little boost on a weekend the papaya team’s direct rivals didn’t bring upgrades.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” he said. “It’s a constant push from the team to try and get the car even quicker, and this wing is a nice new upgrade for us here. We’re pretty happy with it.”

Formula 1 drivers have been caught up by the bumpiness of Interlagos’ new track surface, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri joking “seeing the end of the straight is the first objective” in Saturday’s sprint.

The historic Brazilian Grand Prix venue in Sao Paulo has been completely resurfaced for 2024, and while drivers agreed the new asphalt delivered more grip, they also felt it made the 4.3km loop a lot bumpier than it used to be

“I think everybody was thrown off a bit by just how bumpy the track was,” Piastri said after claiming a sprint pole ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.

“Seeing the end of the straight is the first objective. It’s bad, it’s really, really bumpy. And I think everyone’s had to change a lot of things on the car to make them somewhat comfortable.

“The grip is actually quite good, it’s just trying to keep all four wheels on the ground at once is not that easy.”

Piastri was not alone in his observations, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also suffering aboard his Red Bull, which has been historically weaker over bumpy circuits.

“The car was a bit difficult on the bumps,” the world champion said after taking fourth on the sprint grid.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“They did the resurfacing, but they actually made it worse to drive. It’s extremely bumpy everywhere, so that’s not good for our cars.

“All the bumpy areas, the car is jumping around a lot, and it’s costing me quite a bit of lap time.”

The Mercedes drivers had a similar experience, with George Russell wondering “what happened” when they repaved it and Lewis Hamilton getting flashbacks to Mercedes’ bouncing-affected 2022 season.

“Yeah, the ride is pretty bad on the track, I think for everyone,” Hamilton said. “The track has been resurfaced, and they’ve not done a particularly great job. It’s bumpy for everyone.

“FP1 was like Baku 2022. It was a little bit better, in terms of it wasn’t hitting the deck so badly, so I wasn’t in pain or anything like that. But the thing is hopping through the corners, so it’s very hard to drive.”

Kevin Magnussen will sit out the entire Brazilian Grand Prix weekend due to illness, with reserve driver Oliver Bearman remaining in the car until Sunday.

On Friday morning Haas announced that Magnussen would have to sit out the Friday running after being taken ill, and that he would be replaced by Bearman for free practice and sprint qualifying. That also meant Bearman would stay in the car for Saturday morning’s sprint.

But in a further update Haas has now confirmed that Magnussen won’t be in the car at all this weekend, with Bearman also taking part in Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s grand prix.

“Haas F1 Team can confirm that Kevin Magnussen will not compete in the São Paulo Grand Prix and Oliver Bearman will race for the team for the remainder of the weekend,” the team shared in a statement, with Motorsport.com understanding Magnussen’s symptoms are nausea-related.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team, speaks to the media

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Bearman acquitted himself well on Friday in his first-ever visit to Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit, taking third in free practice before advancing to the top 10 in sprint qualifying. 

The Briton was on course for eighth place on the grid, but saw his SQ3 laptime deleted for exceeding track limits and will line up in 10th, ahead of experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in 12th.

Bearman is set for his third grand prix start and his second for Haas, having already replaced Magnussen in Baku when the Danish driver served a one-race ban for accumulating too many penalty points.

The 19-year-old Ferrari junior, who has already been signed by Haas to step up to a full-time race seat in 2025, also deputised for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia when the Spaniard was treated for appendicitis.

Bearman’s third start also means Haas will have to rethink its plans for the Abu Dhabi post-season test, which Bearman was set to take part in for his 2025 employer.

Drivers are not allowed to have started in more than two grands prix to be eligible to drive the team’s second car designated for rookies, while the teams’ other car is used by regular drivers for Pirelli tyre testing.

Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov

A new Red Bull chassis didn’t help Sergio Perez turn his fortunes around as he could only qualify in 13th place for the sprint race in Brazil.

The under-fire Red Bull driver continues to struggle for form after a poor performance in the US GP in Austin followed by his shocking home race in Mexico last weekend, where he finished 17th.

The pressure on Perez is ramping up, and again questions have resurfaced as to whether he will be retained by Red Bull next season, despite having a contract in place.

Perez was quizzed about his latest poor result and reeled off a list of excuses.

He said: “We had a good FP1 and then we had a little bit of understeer with the track [temperature] coming down.

“We tried to [deal with] it with the brake balance and the tools that are available and then I ended up a little bit too rear-limited.

“And then was a bit confusing on the programme. We thought we might have a chance for a second lap, and unfortunately, we didn’t.

“Today we did struggle quite a bit and looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying, really. We got caught out with the conditions, unfortunately. And that really was the difficult bit.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner had earlier revealed the team had reverted to an old chassis to help boost Perez’s confidence.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Horner again pledged his support for his driver but stopped short of providing a ringing endorsement.

He said: “We’re doing our best to try and help rebuild his confidence. He had a horrible weekend in Mexico.

“We’ve changed his chassis this weekend. It’s an older chassis, that we’ve put him into just to give him that extra boost of confidence.

“Sergio is a seasoned campaigner. He’s been around long enough that he knows this is a results-based business.

“He knows that this season has been under-par for him. Nobody’s more acutely aware of that than Sergio, but we’re doing our best that we can to support him.”

Meanwhile, team-mate Max Verstappen will line up on the second row after qualifying in fourth place for the sprint.

The world champion also criticised the bumpy track for not helping his cause.

He said: “As soon as we went into qualifying, it looked like we were definitely off the pace.

“The car was a bit difficult on the bumps. They did the resurfacing but they actually made it worse to drive. It’s extremely bumpy everywhere, so that’s not good for our cars.

“All the bumpy areas, the car is jumping around a lot, and it’s costing me quite a bit of lap time.

“Normally when you’re already quite a bit off over one lap, I don’t think we are particularly strong in the race. So we’ll have to see how that goes tomorrow in the sprint.

“I also know there’s maybe some weather around that can come, but maybe not for the sprint.”

Continue reading with advertising …

… or with a subscription

Visit motorsport.com as usual with advertising and tracking. You can revoke your consent at any time via the data protection page.¹

Use motorsport.com without any advertising banners, personalized tracking and commercials for a small fee.

Accept and continue

More information about advertising and tracking in our Data protection notice, the List of our partners and in Data protection information center.

Already a subscriber?

Log in here