Leclerc keeps P3 but Ferrari is fined

Charles Leclerc has kept his third place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but Ferrari has been fined by the FIA for a fuel discrepancy.

Ferrari was placed under investigation before the race got underway as FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer found a “significant difference” between the amount of fuel the team declared was in the car and how much was actually being carried. The team was summoned to face the stewards and found guilty of breaching the International Sporting Code as it had been in contravention of a technical directive rather than the regulations. As a result, it was fined 50,000 euros.

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“TD/014-19 requires teams to declare the amount of fuel they intend to put in the car for the laps to the grid, the formation lap, the race, the in-lap and any fire-ups that would be needed,” the stewards decision read. “The technical delegate was able to confirm the fuel mass put in the tank by checking in accordance with the procedure specified in TD/014-19.

“There was a difference of 4.88kgs between the team’s declaration for car 16 and the technical delegate’s measured fuel mass.

“The team’s declaration was therefore inaccurate and constituted a breach of the Technical Directive. This in turn constitutes an infringement of Article 12.1.1.i of the International Sporting Code.”

The fine means Leclerc keeps his third place, with the Monegasque saying he was not made aware of the impending investigation ahead of the race.