Penalty of Leclerc: a problem of sensors!

Charles Leclerc lost his fifth place obtained at the finish of the Belgian Grand Prix after he received a penalty for not respecting the maximum speed authorized in the pit lane during his last pitstop.

The Monegasque had stopped one lap from the end to put on new tires in the hope of depriving his rival Max Verstappen of the fastest lap point, which he failed to do.

Mattia Binotto, the Ferrari team principal, today explains the reasons which led to this speeding in the pits, revealing that his pilot was not in question.

“We didn’t use our usual sensors to measure speed in the pits, simply because they failed when the front right overheated due to Max’s tear-off (see Photo above) which had become lodged in the brake scoop » explains Binotto.

“And our backup sensors may not be accurate enough, which led to an unfortunate situation with that five-second penalty, which robbed Charles of a much-deserved top 5. »

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“But I think we made the right decision despite everything by deciding to stop at the end to go for the fastest lap, even if it was borderline with Fernando [Alonso]. We knew there was a risk of losing position, but we also knew that Charles could overtake him as he had cooler tires and the advantage of DRS. Anyway, I think it was the right decision. »

Leclerc was flashed at 81 km/h in a pit lane limited to 80 km/h. The Monegasque is now relegated to 98 points behind his rival Verstappen in the championship standings eight races from the end of the season.