The German race in Hockenheim still resonates. Mixed with spectacle and drama, she made it difficult to find a man to fall asleep in front of a television screen during this race. In doing so, however, one matter almost sank into the background, namely Charles Leclerc’s first stop. During the first phase of the safety car, there was real heavy traffic in the pits, as almost all racers exchanged rain tires for intermediates. At the time, after starting, Leclerc collided slightly with Grosjean. When Leclerc finished changing wheels, Grosjean had just gotten into the pits. Ferrari turned its scoreboard green and Leclerc drove off, causing the two racers to touch lightly.
Many spectators expected the young Monaco to receive a penalty because the team let him go in a dangerous way, even though he was another racer at the same height. Punishment also followed, but to the surprise of many it turned out to be very mild. Ferrari has to pay 5.000 euros to the FIA account and that’s it. Leclerc was not given a sports penalty for doing his team.
In Monaco, there was an almost similar case between Max Verstappn and Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen then received a five-second mark-up penalty. “At Verstappn, the verdict was somewhat mislabeled,” race director Michael Masi explained. "It simply came to our notice then. Leclerc was a classic Unsafe Release. ”
While Verstappen and Bottas fought for a place in the pits and the young Dutchman gained a sporting advantage, Leclerc and Grosjean did not race directly against each other. In addition, according to Masi, there was a certain concern before the race at the team chief meeting. As meteorologists predicted changing conditions, team bosses reckoned with chaotic scenes in the pits. As a result, the Commissioners decided to mitigate the sentencing somewhat.
