Understanding Why Ferrari Just Paid the FIA $5,400 Over the Rain

Weird and twisted rules aren’t rare to come across in F1. Charles Leclerc and Ferrari faced one such problem on Friday during free practice ahead of the Canadian GP; the team was fined $5,400 for the tires they used in the wet weather.

Social media sites were flooded with images and videos of hailstorms taking over the paddock in Montreal. By the time FP2 came, the session began with a greasy track, not quite fitting into either bracket of intermediate and dry tires.

Ferrari is fined €5,000 for using Intermediate tires on Charles Leclerc’s car in FP2 when the track wasn’t declared wet
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Teams require the FIA to declare a track wet before using the wet boots on their cars. Leclerc fitted the intermediate tires for his session, and Ferrari sent him out before the track was declared wet.

So, Leclerc was summoned to the stewards over the unusual infringement. Moments later, they decided on a €5,400 fine from Ferrari over the breach. “This constitutes a breach of Art 30.5 l) which only permits the use of intermediate or wet weather tires after the track has been declared wet by the race director.”

Ferrari x Charles Leclerc win in Canada?

No small fine is going to get in Leclerc’s way from having a great weekend in Canada. In fact, the recent Monaco GP race winner is confident enough to repeat results this weekend as well.

With a skip in his step, Leclerc knows the Red Bulls can be defeated. As quoted by the BBC, he said

“I don’t think it puts too much in light the strength of the Red Bull so it might again be an opportunity for us.”

With a change of fate and some good luck from his home race, so far it seems like Leclerc’s confidence could play out to be a victory in Montreal. With an exciting weekend looming around the corner, it will be exciting to see what Leclerc can conjure up on the track.