Formula 1: Charles Leclerc penalized, loses 6th after Japanese Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc has been issued two post-race penalties following his disappointing result in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, making one of his worst results of the 2019 Formula 1 season even worse.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc saw what was a promising front row start to the Japanese Grand Prix, his fifth consecutive front row start going back to the 2019 Formula 1 summer break, at Suzuka Circuit, evaporate into disappointment at the start of the race.

Teammate Sebastian Vettel nearly made a false start from the pole position, and in trying to correct his error and stop his car before the lights went out, his mistake altered Leclerc’s reaction time.

Both drivers were passed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas before reaching turn one of the 18-turn, 3.609-mile (5.808-kilometer) Suzuka Circuit road course in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan, and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen had a good run on the outside of Leclerc.

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But Leclerc and Verstappen made contact, sending Verstappen spinning and damaging both cars.

Leclerc’s car sustained damage to its front wing, and he was told to pit because of it. However, he opted to stay out on the track because he did not feel that this damage was altering the performance of his car.

The damaged portion of his front wing eventually flew off of his car, angering Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton behind him as a result of the safety hazard that it created not only for other drivers but for fans.

While Verstappen was ultimately forced to retire from the race because of this first-lap incident, Leclerc went on to rebound and finish in sixth place, which was still quite a disappointment after his starting position of second had indicated such promise.

But now the 21-year-old Monegasque has lost his sixth place result.

Leclerc was issued two post-race time penalties following the conclusion of this race. He was issued a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Verstappen, and he was issued a 10-second time penalty for continuing to drive his car in an unsafe condition.

As a result, he was demoted from sixth to seventh place and scored six points in the race as opposed to eight. Meanwhile, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was promoted to sixth from seventh and scored eight points instead of six.

Charles Leclerc hadn’t finished outside of the top four in a Formula 1 race since he crashed in the German Grand Prix in late July and was classified in 17th place. Will he bounce back from his seventh place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix in the next race on the schedule?

The next race is the Mexican Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 27 and is set to be broadcast live on ABC from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico beginning at 3:05 p.m. ET.