Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll have avoided grid penalties after being investigated by stewards following Friday’s sprint race qualifying session in Shanghai.
The pair were under investigation for failing to obey the maximum delta time between the Safety Car lines during the sprint race qualifying session. Both incidents occured during the second stage of the session.
The race director’s guidance for the Chinese Grand Prix states: “For the safe and orderly conduct of the event, other than in exceptional circumstances accepted as such by the stewards, any driver that exceeds the maximum time from the Second Safety Car Line to the First Safety Car Line on any lap during and after the end of the sprint qualifying and qualifying session, including in-laps and out-laps or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the sprint or race, may be deemed to be going unnecessarily slowly.”
Drivers are routinely noted for failing to adhere to this guidance during qualifying sessions, but the stewards typically note they had no alternative but to breach the maximum time as they had to slow down to let other cars past.
Leclerc was cleared as the stewards ruled he backed off after being told to let Lewis Hamilton past by his team. His race engineer Bryan Bozzi told him during SQ2: “Can we swap the cars, please?” After checking the order Leclerc replied: “I’ll do it but we’ve never done that and I’m in the shit here.”
After speaking to Leclerc and a Ferrari representative, the stewards determined he did not drive “unnecessarily slowly.”
“Both [Leclerc] and [Hamilton] commenced their preparation laps close to each other,” they noted. “Hamilton followed Leclerc closely and Leclerc had [Stroll] ahead of him on a preparatory lap. Leclerc had to wait for [Stroll] to commence his push lap and in the meantime, Leclerc was overtaken by Hamilton on the orders of the team.
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“Leclerc at all times maintained a reasonable speed and ultimately sought to create a reasonable gap behind Hamilton. All of this was done in an orderly fashion and no car behind Leclerc was affected by this. Therefore, Leclerc did not impede other drivers and gained no sporting advantage by his course of action.
“The stewards therefore determine that Leclerc did not drive “unnecessarily slowly”, and that evidently the reason he was above the maximum time was due to his appropriate actions and take no further action.”
The stewards ruled Stroll only exceeded the time limit because Lando Norris overtook him during his lap, and the Aston Martin driver backed off in order to ensure he had a sufficient gap ahead of him.
“When [Stroll] commenced a preparation lap, he was overtaken by [Norris] who was completing a push lap,” the stewards explained. “Stroll followed Norris at a reasonable speed and then overtook Norris.
“While Stroll continued to drive at a reasonable speed, he was overtaken by Norris between turns 10 and 11. Stroll explained that his push lap would have been compromised if he had not then slowed to create a reasonable gap behind Norris. He explained that in the circumstances he considered the best course was to stay behind Norris maintaining a reasonable distance. Having done so, Stroll exceeded the delta
time by approximately six seconds.
“The evidence showed that Stroll stayed at or above speeds necessary to stay below 1:54.0 around the vast majority of the circuit. In this case Stroll’s ability to stay below 1:54.0 was compromised by NOR’s overtake. No car behind Stroll was affected because the two cars following Stroll were on in-laps. Therefore, Stroll did not impede other drivers and gained no sporting advantage.
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“Stroll maintained a reasonable distance of Norris. The stewards therefore determine that Stroll did not drive ‘unnecessarily slowly’, and that evidently the reason he was above the maximum time was due to his appropriate actions and take no further action.”
In both cases the stewards noted neither driver delayed a rival while also exceeded the maximum time limit. This was a bone of contention at the Qatar Grand Prix last year, when the stewards gave Max Verstappen a one-place grid penalty for exceeding the delta time and obstructing George Russell as they prepared to start laps.
The maximum time between the Safety Car lines is set at one minute and 54 seconds for this event. The stewards confirmed there were eight other cases of drivers failing to adhere to it during sprint race qualifying which did not require investigation. Two more of these involved Stroll again and Oscar Piastri also committed two. Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were the other drivers who escaped penalties for driving too slowly.
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