Did Hamilton or Leclerc deserve a penalty over their first-corner incident? | Formula 1

Ferrari’s performance in their home race was compromised from the very first corner as their two drivers made contact.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton attempted to drive through the first two corners side-by-side. They made contact at the exit which sent Hamilton into the gravel, dropping him from fourth place to tenth.

The stewards noted the incident but chose not to investigate it. Leclerc crashed out on the second lap of the race.

Hamilton was unhappy with his team mate at the time, telling his race engineer: “Charles pushed me off.”

He also appeared to indicate he would raise the matter internally afterwards, adding: “We are definitely going to have it on after this race.”

However he was reluctant to point fingers after the race, which he finished in sixth. “I ended up like 10th or something, so there’s not really much to say about it,” he said. “We’ll take it offline.”

Leclerc felt Hamilton’s attempt to pass him going into the first corner was too risky and made it difficult for him to avoid contact with the team’s other car.

“At the first corner, I did not expect Lewis to take that many risks,” Leclerc told Viaplay. “I think that brought us quite tight.

“I mean turn two was very tight for me. I tried to make the corner as tight as I possibly could. But it wasn’t enough. And unfortunately, it’s something that we never really wanted to see, particularly with the cars of the same team. So we’ll analyse that and try to avoid that in the future.”

Should the stewards have intervened over the incident between the Ferrari drivers – and if so, how? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Did the first lap incident between the Ferrari drivers deserve a penalty?

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Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine