Leclerc's five-second Mexico penalty splits F1 fans as Hamilton and Verstappen weigh in

Charles Leclerc’s five-second time penalty at the Mexico City Grand Prix has fractured Formula 1 opinion, with Lewis Hamilton arguing it was far too soft and large sections of the Ferrari fanbase insisting their driver should not have been punished at all.

The incident unfolded at Turn 4 on the opening lap, when Leclerc attempted to pass polesitter and Ferrari team-mate Hamilton around the outside. Both drivers ran wide and left the circuit, but it was Leclerc who emerged ahead after cutting the corner. After deliberating for 12 laps, the stewards ruled he had gained an advantage by leaving the track and issued the five-second penalty — by which point Leclerc had already pulled clear in clean air, a particularly significant benefit at altitude in Mexico City.

Hamilton made his displeasure known over team radio. “The problem with the five-second penalty is he’s got clean air,” he said. “He doesn’t have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the position back.”

Max Verstappen, who had moved up to second in the wake of the Turn 4 chaos, was more sardonic in his response: “Ha! I thought all the new penalties were 10?”

Fans on social media largely echoed the two world champions’ scepticism. “I think that’s a very soft penalty for Leclerc,” one user wrote on X. “That means you might as well drive off the track and gain the advantage if you can gallop off into the lead while the FIA take 12 laps to make their mind up.” Another noted that a five-second penalty carried little weight when Leclerc was already 3.5 seconds clear of Verstappen and more than five ahead of Hamilton, with the added benefit of open track ahead of him.

Broadcaster Tom Gaymor argued the outcome was the product of calculated racecraft. “Charles knew exactly what he was doing there,” he wrote. “Braked to be ahead at the apex not to make the corner, clearly gains an advantage and lets stewards argue it out, has clean air and has not lost a place — worst case scenario, five seconds.”

Not everyone directed their frustration at the stewards or at Leclerc. A significant portion of Ferrari supporters turned on Hamilton, arguing that his defensive line forced Leclerc off the circuit in the first place and that the stewards should have investigated both drivers. F1 journalist Thomas Maher went further, suggesting neither Ferrari driver merited any sanction for the incident at all.

The split reaction underlines a recurring tension in modern Formula 1 over how track-limits penalties interact with race strategy — particularly when a driver can absorb a time penalty and still retain a competitive advantage built in the laps it takes stewards to reach a verdict.