Charles Leclerc picked up two post-race penalties combining for 15 seconds added to his race time after the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Monegasque was involved in a first-lap incident with Max Verstappen, as he pushed the Red Bull off-track at Turn 2, eventually resulting in retirement for the Dutchman.
Initially, the stewards said no investigation was necessary was changed their minds and would summon both drivers post-race and it was then Leclerc was given a first five-second penalty and two points on his licence for causing a collision.
“A loss of grip in close proximity to the car in front should have been anticipated and allowed for,” their ruling read, noting the Ferrari driver was “predominantly at fault”.
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The second penalty was more serious, however, as it related to Leclerc continuing to circulate with a damaged front wing, ignoring an instruction from the team.
This resulted in the 10-second penalty for driving the car in “unsafe manner” and FIA race director Michael Masi was less than impressed.
“I was originally advised that they would be pitting the car,” he said.
“They then chose not to, and then subsequently Ferrari were instructed to pit Charles’ car by me, which it did.
“It was on the second lap, the [front wing] elements came off and they were still instructed to pit because we could not confirm if there was going to be anything else that was going to come off.”
Indeed a shower of carbon fibre struck Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz’s car on the approach to 130R where a tyre failure would have resulted in a massive accident.
Ferrari was also fined 25,000 Euros for their part with Masi concluding he was “more than slightly annoyed from a safety perspective”.
The combined penalties also only cost Leclerc a single position dropping to P7, but he could regain the P6 he finished in as Renault’s results are also now under investigation.