Leclerc demoted with penalty for 'unnecessary' Norris block

The Ferrari driver qualified third for his home race but will drop three positions to sixth after "unnecessarily impeding" McLaren’s Norris during the final part of qualifying. 

Replays showed Leclerc clearly blocking Norris in the tunnel, forcing the McLaren driver to dramatically lift off. 

Norris, who was on a flying lap at the time, was unable to improve and ended up 10th. 

The penalty means Esteban Ocon will start third, while Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton will each move up a place to fourth and fifth respectively. 

What the stewards said 

"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car ​16 (Charles Leclerc), the driver of Car ​4 (Lando Norris), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing data, team radio and in-car video evidence.

"Leclerc had finished his final lap of Q3 and was in the Turn 4 through Turn 10 complex. Norris was on a fast lap and caught Leclerc in the middle of the tunnel and was clearly impeded.

"Both drivers agreed that there was little that Leclerc could have safely done in the tunnel to avoid impeding Norris, given the difficulty in vision due to the light entering and in the tunnel and the change of lines from one side of the tunnel to the other. In fact, the Stewards observed that Leclerc reacted in a sensible way to a blue flag displayed by the marshals, but at this point it was too late.

"However, the Stewards reviewed team radio, and Leclerc’s team failed to give him any warning about Norris’ approach until Norris was already directly behind him.

"Further, the discussion during the preceding portion of the track was entirely about competing drivers, not the traffic behind, which is a critical task at this track.

"The Stewards believe that there is much that Leclerc could have done prior to the tunnel to avoid the impeding had he received warning from the team at an appropriate time, especially considering that Norris’ approach was clear on the marshalling system. Thus, the Stewards consider that the impeding was unnecessary.

"The Stewards reviewed all the preceding unnecessarily impeding penalties in the past few years. In every case, the actions, or inaction of the team did not mitigate the unnecessary impeding. Thus the Stewards impose the usual penalty of a three grid drop."