Ferrari dissatisfied after penalty for Leclerc, but won't file protest

Mattia Binotto is disappointed with the penalty Charles Leclerc received and the FIA's inconsistent way of acting, but Ferrari will not appeal the penalty and so Max Verstappen need not fear having to postpone his title party after all.

With full points handed out and a penalty for Leclerc throwing him back to third place, Verstappen became world champion for the second time in Japan. At Ferrari, they are resigned to the fact that Verstappen and Red Bull Racing can celebrate the title here, but Binotto is baulking at the FIA's conduct.

Ferrari will not protest

Binotto states to Sky Sports that he is unhappy with the penalty, but that the team will not protest. According to Ferrari, Leclerc had the same advantage over Perez when he entered the chicane as when he came out, so did not necessarily have an advantage from cutting the chicane. Binotto also finds it strange that the penalty was given very quickly now, where there was a need to wait hours for Sergio Perez's penalty in Singapore.

The team boss of the Italian racing stable hopes the FIA can be more consistent in the future, because if Perez's penalty had been known during the Singapore race, Ferrari says it would have handled the race differently there too. The FIA points to driver briefings that were held in which it was precisely asked to clarify more quickly. The race committee did that now.