FIA stewards halve Leclerc's penalty to five seconds after Hamilton also ran wide at Mexico GP Turn 4

Charles Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty — half the standard sanction — for completing an overtake off the track at Turn 4 on the opening lap of the Mexico Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with FIA stewards citing mitigating circumstances to justify the reduction.

Leclerc started third alongside pole-sitter and Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton. As George Russell fell back sharply in the second phase of the start, the two Ferraris ran wheel to wheel into the first complex of corners. Hamilton held a narrow advantage through the opening section, but Leclerc was ahead at the apex of Turn 4 before running wide and taking the lead off the circuit.

Drivers’ briefing guidelines required Leclerc to surrender the position by Turn 12 — a failure to do so would have dropped him two places, with Max Verstappen set to jump ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc did not give the place back, prompting the stewards to investigate.

In their report, the stewards concluded that both cars had entered Turn 4 at excessive speed, making it impossible for either to have remained on the tarmac. “Car 44, which was on the inside, had to go off track to make the corner,” the document noted, adding that Leclerc “was therefore not entitled to claim the corner due to the excessive entry speed.” The baseline penalty of ten seconds was reduced to five on the grounds that Hamilton had also gone off track and that the incident occurred on the first lap.

Hamilton was openly critical of the decision. “The problem is he’s got clean air, and doesn’t have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the place back,” the seven-time world champion said during the race. A few laps later he went further: “The stewards are basically handing Charles this win.”

Leclerc’s time at the front did allow him to build a five-second cushion over Verstappen before the first round of pit stops, though he lost the virtual lead when Red Bull reacted quickly to Ferrari’s stop to prevent an undercut.

The race was red-flagged on lap 46 after Valtteri Bottas crashed out with what appeared to be a suspension failure. At the time of the stoppage, Verstappen led from Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli, while Hamilton dropped to fourth after pitting under the safety car moments before the red flag was shown.