Charles Leclerc has lost his point finish in today’s Qatar sprint race after being penalised for repeatedly exceeding track limits.
The Ferrari driver and his Aston Martin rival Lance Stroll were given five-second time penalties for running off-track on four separate occasions each.Leclerc took the chequered flag in seventh position. His penalty drops him to 12th place. Alexander Albon, who complained the Ferrari driver had repeatedly left the track, was promoted to seventh place, gaining an extra point. Fernando Alonso moved up to the final points-paying position.
Stroll fell from 13th in the original classification to 15th and last out of those running at the end of the sprint race.
Leclerc was one of several drivers who attempted to complete the race on a set of soft tyres and struggled in the closing stages of the race as his tyres went off.
“We lost out towards the end,” he said. “I think we were also quite lucky there was that many Safety Cars. But at the end we knew that it was going to be a difficult race.”
“With the soft it was very tricky at the end,” he added. “The start was good, the first few laps were good but then after that we knew it was going to be a bit more difficult compared to the medium runners, which was the case.”
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2023 Qatar Grand Prix
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elchinero (@elchinero)
7th October 2023, 20:49
So, it is, now, numerically impossible for #44 to capture the WDC? So stow the Union, Jacks.
SteveP
7th October 2023, 21:57
How long have you been sleeping?
That was mathematically impossible a while back.
The only WDC ralated thing that happened today was that Perez finished the minute uncertainty.
Until today, if Perez won every sprint, and every GP, and Verstappen broke his leg and couldn’t get any points for the rest of the season, then the remote chance of Perez winning would come up.
The good news was that when in a relatively equal car, Piastri can beat Verstappen.
I wonder what would happen if a few others were in relatively equal cars. A bit of racing maybe?
Esteban
8th October 2023, 5:15
Piastri only won because of Verstappen hideous start, a few more laps and there was no doubt of who would’ve won. Piastri even thanked the idiots causing the safety cars.
AlanD
8th October 2023, 1:47
What has car 44 got to do with LeClerc and Stroll and track limit penalties?
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
7th October 2023, 21:19
bernie was right.
MoMa
7th October 2023, 22:27
abiut what specifically? He’s said some clever things but also some horrific things….
Dog-y
7th October 2023, 22:51
Oh man, did Lance lose that precious P13(out of 15 finishers)?
Poor boy,
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th October 2023, 5:08
Ahah, yes, he ended up last of the drivers still running, how surprising! Perez got into a crash and retired, also surprising, as well as sargeant making a mistake and beaching the car, usually these drivers are so fast and hardly ever make mistakes!
Facts&Stats
8th October 2023, 10:04
That might be the most interesting fight left this year: Who will be rated worst this year?
But Sargeant has such a big advantage that it’s difficult for Perez and Stroll to undercut him.