The commissioners have been thinking all week about whether they will also summon Charles Leclerc after the case of Max Verstappen‘s indecent comments. However, when the defending champion objected on Thursday that the rules apparently only apply to him, the FIA had to react in order to maintain consistency. Even so, she didn’t quite succeed. The Monaco man received a lighter sentence.
Max Verstappen became an exemplary example for all other drivers after his speech at the press conference in Singapore. The commissioners, among whom was Johnny Herbert, awarded him a sentence of community service for the benefit of the International Automobile Federation, which they described in the verdict as a more severe penalty than a simple fine.
That’s how Charles Leclerc knew on the press in Mexico that it was bad. Reporters asked him what he thought when he skidded on the approach to the home straight and almost ended up in the barrier. “I caught a spin slide that I saved, then I caught a spin slide from the other side and I’m like, Doriti! Fortunately…” he explained Leclerc with the help of the English “f*ck”, when he suddenly realized what he had deduced. “Sorry! But, no! No! I don’t want to join Max!”
Charles Leclerc Swearing in the Post Race Press Conference:
“FUCK, OH NOOOO, I DONT WANNA JOIN MAX!” 😭😭😭#F1 #MexicanGP pic.twitter.com/yt7DQAyuTR
— LH⁴⁴🇬🇧 (@LH44_Updates) October 28, 2024
In Brazil, the punishment for Charles Leclerc, who had already used the same word at the Monaco Grand Prix, but the FIA did not notice, was decided by Gerd Ennser, Andrew Mallalieu, Luciano Burti and Johnny Herbert, who in recent days had to face accusations of not making decisions quite consistently.
We cannot say that the latest verdict completely dispels these doubts. “The stewards studied the transcript of the drivers’ post-race press conference and found that Charles Leclerc had used a foul language in response to the leading question ‘what did you say’ in relation to an important moment at the end of the race. In response, Leclerc used a rude expression, recalling exactly what he thought at that moment. Leclerc immediately realized his mistake and apologized.”
The commissioners consider it a mitigating circumstance that Leclerc immediately repented and did not use the term to offend anyone. “During questioning, Leclerc expressed regret for his momentary lapse of judgment and stated that he understood his responsibility as a role model.”
Even considering Leclerc’s apology on the press itself and at the hearing “the commissioners do not consider this violation of the rules to be as serious as in the last case and decided to award a fine of 10,000 euros with a conditional amount of five thousand euros for 12 months”.
