Leclerc Escapes Harsh Penalty & Verstappen Reacts to FIA Decision

Nov.2 - The FIA has given Charles Leclerc a more lenient penalty than Max Verstappen for a nearly identical faux-pas.

For his 'F-word' uttered in the Thursday FIA press conference in Singapore recently, triple world champion Verstappen was sentenced to a day of community service.

But then after the Mexican GP last Sunday, in the post-race FIA press conference, Charles Leclerc also said "f*ck" - before immediately recognising his error and apologising.

F1's governing body was silent on the matter until Friday at Interlagos, where the Ferrari driver was summoned to the stewards. Leclerc was issued with a 10,000 euros fine, half of which is suspended for a full year.

"What Leclerc did was worse than what I did," Verstappen responded. "It was a much more important meeting with the media, with more people present.

"But, you know, I'm not going to waste any more of my time on this. It is what it is."

In its ruling, the stewards noted that Leclerc had been asked a "somewhat leading question" about how he felt whilst almost losing control of his Ferrari in Mexico.

"In response, Leclerc used coarse language being the accurate recollection of what he thought to himself at the time," the FIA said. "Leclerc immediately realised his error and apologised."

The stewards also noted that in his hearing, Leclerc "expressed his regret for his momentary lack of judgment".

F1 pundit Kees van de Grint, a former Bridgestone and Ferrari engineer, is not impressed with the FIA's swearing clampdown.

"I don't like the F-word either," he told Viaplay, "but that happens spontaneously. You're allowed to make a mistake.

"Rules are rules, but to start talking about this again days later? What is this all about?"

Former F1 driver Christijan Albers agrees.

"I'm also completely done with it," said the Dutchman. "It's a great season, and all we're talking about is idiotic track limits and that swearing is not allowed."

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