F1 stewards admit major error in Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri clash

Formula 1’s stewards at the Belgian Grand Prix have admitted they should have penalised Charles Leclerc for his collision with Oscar Piastri, it has been claimed. 

Leclerc was controversially not penalised following a clash with Piastri as the pair jostled for third place at Les Combes on the eighth lap of last Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps. 

Piastri positioned his McLaren on the outside of the defending Leclerc, who squeezed the Australian to the edge of the track, resulting in his rear-left tyre touching Piastri’s front-right wheel. 

Both drivers were able to continue after the contact but Piastri suffered floor damage that McLaren believes cost him around two-to-three tenths per lap for the rest of the race in Belgium.

The incident was investigated by the stewards at the time but they opted to take no further action. 

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft has revealed that the stewards involved admitted they made a mistake in their original ruling during a meeting ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. 

“There was a consensus that actually Lewis was guilty of getting a penalty in the incident with George Russell down at Turn 5,” Croft said during Sky Sports F1’s coverage of first practice at the Hungaroring. 

“All the drivers kind of agreed with that. My view is that it should be treated like Turn 1 on the first lap, to be honest, and I would have been quite happy to not see a penalty. 

“The Charles Leclerc incident at Turn 5, the stewards actually admitted on second thoughts that he deserved a penalty. I think the consensus was, it needs a re-think for next time.” 

Former grand prix driver and Sky Sports F1 analyst Davidson was clear in his verdict. 

“That was 100 percent - 100 percent - a penalty,” Davidson stated. 

“Piastri was in a position he couldn’t back out of. Once you are in that position where you can’t back out of it, and contact is made when the car on the defensive line is supposed to give a car’s width, but they make contact with you, it’s a no-brainer. I can’t believe he didn’t get a penalty.” 

Piastri felt Leclerc deserved a black-and-white-flag and raised concern that the collision could set a dangerous precedent going forwards. 

Speaking on Thursday in Budapest, Leclerc admitted his move had been over the limit. 

“At the end of the day my view in the car is that I try to push the things to the limit," the Monegasque said. 

“I think with Oscar it was a bit on the other side - so that's probably not the way I want to race all the time. It's also risky for me at the end of the day.

“You're always trying to leave the smallest place available. That was maybe a bit too sketchy.”