Charles Leclerc has been summoned by the FIA stewards at the Brazilian Grand Prix for swearing in the post-race press conference in Mexico last weekend.

The Monegasque swore when describing his late-race moment in the Mexico City race, where he ran wide at the final corner as he fought hard with Lando Norris.

“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***’,” he said.

Quickly realising that the use of swear words in press conferences is now frowned upon after Max Verstappen was punished for cursing in Singapore, Leclerc immediately apologised.

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

Leclerc was seen in conversation with an FIA official after the press conference, and it is understood a note was sent to the race stewards earlier this week advising them of a potential rules breach.

With the stewards in Brazil only convening properly on Friday morning, it took them until shortly after the start of sprint qualifying to react to that note and decide that the matter did need a proper hearing.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

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They stated that Leclerc was being called up for an “alleged breach of Article 12.2.1.k of the International Sporting Code – Language during the Mexico FIA Post Race Press Conference.”

Leclerc’s summons came after Verstappen, who has been punished with a day of community service for his swearing, expressed some surprise in Brazil for his Ferrari rival not being questioned by the FIA.

“Apparently, it only counts for me anyway, because after the race in Mexico, someone was swearing. I didn’t hear anything from it,’ he said.

“It’s weird. Actually what he says is worse than what I said in the context, and it was a much more important press conference with more people watching.”

The hardline stance from the FIA on swearing came in the wake of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem expressing his displeasure at the language of drivers in F1.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, he said: “I know, I was a driver. In the heat of the moment, when you think you are upset because another driver came to you and pushed you…when I used to drive in the dust [and something like that happened], I would get upset.

“But also, we have to be careful with our conduct. We need to be responsible people and now with technology, everything is going live and everything is going to be recorded. At the end of the day, we have to study that to see: do we minimise what is being said publicly?”

A STADIUM once feared by the British and Irish Lions has been turned into a recreational PARK after a deadly earthquake left it abandoned.

The turn-stiles at Lancaster Park in Christchurch, New Zealand were closed for good after the devastating quake hit on 22 February 2011.

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The earthquake took 185 lives that day.

And the iconic stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained, before it was ultimately demolished in 2019.

It has since been transformed into a public recreational park with facilities for community sport, and was re-opened in June 2022.

Lancaster Park was the home of the Crusaders rugby union team and hosted Canterbury cricket games too, for more than 100 years.

But the 38,628-seater was forced to close after the tremor lifted the concrete piles under the stands and dropped them at the wrong angle.

It was the dark grey syrup from the liquefaction that oozed through the surface that essentially killed any hope of the venue returning to its former glory.

Liquefaction is a process that occurs when sediment loses strength and behaves like a fluid.

But the Crusaders’ fortunes changed when plans were announced to build a brand new INDOOR stadium in Christchurch.

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The £315m Te Kaha Stadium, which translates to ‘One New Zealand’ is NOT on the same site as Lancaster Park – but 1.5 miles away.

And Google maps says it’s a five-minute drive away.

Rob Penney admits it is “emotional” to see construction of a new ground in central Christchurch, more than a decade on from the devastating earthquakes.

The new Crusaders manager said: “That ripped everyone’s lives apart here.

“We were unable to use the stadium after that and we ended up using Rugby Park and that was a great venue in the short-term and then the move to where the boys are now (Apollo Projects Stadium).

“It’s a little bit emotional really because it’s something the city has been crying out for, for a long time.”

Penney was Canterbury’s provincial coach when the first earthquake hit during the early hours of 4 September 2010.

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The 2011 6.3-magnitude intraplate incident may have been an aftershock of the 7.1-magnitude of the previous September.

The last sheets of the new Te Kaha Stadium will be installed in the north stand around the middle of 2025.

Crusaders’ chief executive Colin Mansbridge said he was confident the 25,000-seater will open in April 2026.

Crusaders membership holders for both the 2024 and 2025 seasons will automatically join a priority waitlist to secure a desired seat at Te Kaha.

Mansbridge added: “People have just been so excited about the arrival of Te Kaha.

“It’s an opportunity for them to get first dibs.”

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City Infrastructure General Manager Brent Smith says the third stage of works is “the final piece of the puzzle”.

Lancaster Park was scheduled to host five pool matches and two quarter finals at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, won by the All-Blacks.

But Christchurch lost its rights to host the seven World Cup games in September 2011, as the city was too damaged to host fixtures.

Lancaster Park (also known as the AMI Stadium and Jade Stadium) was far from the only venue affected.

QEII Park, which hosted the 1974 Commonwealth Games, was also damaged beyond repair and demolition began in 2012.

Christchurch has gone over a decade without an international-quality ground.

Lancaster Park previously hosted 48 All Blacks test matches from 1913 to 2010.

The Lions’ were beaten 13-10 in their first appearance there in 1930, and lost 13-10 in lost their most recent in 2005.

Alexander Zverev will face Holger Rune in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

German world number three Zverev defeated Greek 10th seed Tsitsipas 7-5 6-4 on Friday.

That victory made him only the third active player to reach 20 ATP Masters 1,000 semi-finals, joining Novak Djokovic (78) and Rafael Nadal (76).

Semi-final opponent Rune overcame Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur 6-4 4-6 7-5.

Zverev, 27, is chasing his seventh career Masters 1,000 title and second of the season following his triumph in Rome.

He next faces a former Paris champion in Danish 21-year-old Rune, who won the tournament in 2022 by beating Djokovic in the final.

On meeting Zverev for a place in the 2024 final, world number 13 Rune said: “He is one of the best players this year, so I will have to be very well prepared and physically recover and build on the level from this match.”

Bulgarian eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov plays Russian Karen Khachanov after Frenchman Ugo Humbert takes on Australian Jordan Thompson in the remaining quarter-finals later on Friday.

Belal Muhammad and Conor McGregor are beefing like they have a fight coming up.

The latest round of verbal volleys between the two occurred after news broke that Muhammad is pulling out of a welterweight title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov that was scheduled to headline UFC 310 on Dec. 7. Muhammad is dealing with a toe infection that has him sidelined for the foreseeable future.

McGregor, who has been out of action for over three years, had little sympathy for Muhammad, responding with laughing emojis in a tweet reply that has since been deleted. The two fighters have rarely had a kind word for each other, but McGregor was particularly motivated to mock Muhammad after Muhammad seemingly did the same to McGregor when he withdrew from UFC 303 this past June due to a toe injury:

Muhammad responded to McGregor’s emojis by accusing McGregor of being a drug addict.

“I have this for antibiotics,” Muhammad said in a comment accompanied by a picture of his arm receiving an injection. “You use needles because you are a junkie. We are not the same.”

In another tweet that has since been deleted, McGregor responded with an invective-filled rant, calling for Muhammad to be “stripped” of the UFC welterweight title (h/t MMA On Point).

“Scutter talk just like your fighting,” McGregor wrote. “You lambasted UFC world champions multiple times on having to reschedule their bouts through injury and now it has come down on you like a bomb from the sky.

“It is glorious to see. No fight. No money. But staph infection. Bum. Stripped. Instantly. Zero knockdowns/any excitement or traffic or views or ticket sales in bout, and now also non-reliable to show? Strip. Cut. Infected fighter. You have infections.”

McGregor’s “bomb” line is particularly heinous given Muhammad’s Palestinian heritage and the genocide currently taking place in Gaza, Palestine’s largest city, at the hands of Israel.

Muhammad is yet to respond to McGregor’s latest comment.