Charles Leclerc mentioned it was “all on me” after he “put a very strong race in the bin” in a torrid, chaotic finish to his Miami Grand Prix which later noticed the Ferrari driver demoted to eighth place by a stewards’ penalty.
Leclerc’s race had began strongly when he took the lead from the second row of the grid earlier than dropping again to 3rd behind Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli after an early Security Automobile interval.
Nonetheless working within the closing podium place into the race’s closing phases, the Ferrari driver was caught and ultimately handed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the penultimate lap and so dropped to fourth.
However Leclerc’s race then went badly awry on the ultimate lap.
He spun into the wall at Flip Three, damaging his automotive, and though he was in a position to proceed on, he struggled with the SF-26 over the rest of the lap and dropped behind Mercedes’ George Russell and Crimson Bull’s Max Verstappen to sixth place over the ultimate two corners.
Race stewards then positioned Leclerc beneath investigation for nook chopping after his spin, driving which might ultimately earn him a 20-second penalty in lieu of a drive-through – a sanction which dropped him two additional locations to eighth behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto within the closing classification.
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Highlights from the 2026 Miami Grand Prix.
Talking earlier than the penalty was utilized, a pissed off Leclerc informed Sky Sports activities F1 on how his closing lap unravelled: “It is all on me and I haven’t got a lot so as to add apart from that.
“Very disappointed with my mistake.
“It should not occur. I pushed very exhausting on the second to final lap, I assumed it was a good suggestion to form of let Oscar go for me to get the overtake.
“I knew it was going to be very difficult to stay in front otherwise. But it was a very poor decision, and in the space of four corners I put a very strong race in the bin, so I’m very frustrated about that.”
On his driving as he tried to get his ailing automotive to the end, Leclerc mentioned: “The thing I can say is that I did my best to try to make the corners, first of all. It was probably a lot more difficult than what it looked from outside.”
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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc each share their disappointment following a troublesome Miami Grand Prix.
Leclerc informed stewards that the automotive wouldn’t take right-hand turns correctly after contact with the wall however officers dominated after their investigation that “the fact that he had a mechanical issue of some sort did not amount to a justifiable reason” for chopping a number of corners.
“We determined that the fact that he had to cut the chicanes (i.e. to leave the track) meant that he gained a lasting advantage by leaving the track in that manner,” stewards mentioned.
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Oscar Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, and Lando Norris share hilarious reactions as they watch by means of the highlights reel of the Miami Grand Prix.
“We accordingly impose a Drive Through penalty on Car 16 [Leclerc], given the number of times the car left the track and gained an advantage.”
Method 1 subsequent heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and one other Dash weekend. Watch stay on Sky Sports activities F1 on Might 22-24. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
