“I was not even told”: Charles Leclerc gets to know about 5-second time penalty during interview post-race

Charles Leclerc did not know he had been given a five-second time penalty until after the race because his race engineer forgot to tell him.

Leclerc’s woeful luck this year continued with another disappointing performance at Spa-Francorchamps. The Monegasque driver started the race from P15 after taking an engine penalty. On paper, however, it wasn’t supposed to be a huge issue since his Title rival and current leader Max Verstappen himself did the same and started the race from 14th.

In the race, Verstappen charged his way up the field flawlessly to take home one of his most comfortable wins ever. Leclerc meanwhile, struggled to threaten the front-runners in any way as he managed an underwhelming P6 finish.

The 24-yar-old was on course towards finishing fifth, but yet another questionable call made by Ferrari took it away. The Italian outfit wanted Leclerc to go for the fastest lap of the race. This was something he didn’t want to risk but ultimately pitted for soft tires with just one lap to go.

Alpine’s Fernando Alonso overtook him much to the Tifosi’s dismay. Leclerc managed to take the fifth place back, but it was in vain since he was given a 5-second time penalty for speeding on the pit lane.

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Charles Leclerc did not know he was penalized; learned about it in post-race interview

As a result of his 5-second time penalty, Leclerc was demoted down to sixth place. This was something he wasn’t aware of until after the race ended. His race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros did not inform him about this.

During an interview with Canal plus after the race, Leclerc looked a bit surprised when asked about the penalty. This was because he didn’t know about it, and assumed he ended the race in fifth.

“I was not even told,” he said after learning about the penalty.

Leclerc did not want to pit for softer tires on the last lap. This was because he knew Verstappen was simply too fast. In spite of that, he listened to his team and came into the pit lane. However, he does not blame anyone for the penalty he received.

“The pit lane is not bad luck. It’s just my fault. It’s a mistake,” the Ferrari driver stated.

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