Bizarre mistake forces stewards to shed light on Leclerc's pitlane move

The Monegasque driver has been summoned for an alleged breach of Article 34.14 a) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, which relates to unsafe releases, after leaving his pit box completely unaware of Norris’s McLaren approaching on his right.

Norris was left with no room to continue, hitting the nose of his MCL39 against the right-hand wall and damaging the endplate of his front wing.

His mechanics were forced to bring him back to the garage for a wing change, while Leclerc escaped without any damage to his car. Both Leclerc and Norris will have to appear before the stewards at 10:30 pm local time to give their version of events.

A similar episode occurred earlier this year in Belgium, involving Lance Stroll and Nico Hülkenberg.

The German tried to slot into the fast lane between the Canadian and Carlos Sainz’s Williams, but ended up colliding with the Aston Martin and damaging the nose of his Sauber.

In that case, the FIA handed the Swiss team a reprimand for unsafe release but completely cleared both drivers of blame. It remains to be seen whether the same approach will be applied to Leclerc, although the impact between the two cars was much heavier this time.

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