Penalty for Ferrari junior Rafael Câmara, of all people, because of Charles Leclerc

Following the first day of practice at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, Brazil, F1 rookie Rafael Câmara had to report to the race stewards. Nish Shetty (Singapore), Loïc Bacquelaine (Belgium), Tonio Liuzzi (Italy) and Felipe Maluhi (Brazil) wanted to know from the young Ferrari driver what on earth he had been thinking when he made a move against Ferrari star Charles Leclerc of all people.

And this is what had happened: during the second practice session for the São Paulo Grand Prix on the historic Brazilian circuit, ‘Rafa’ was swerving all over the place, getting in the Monegasque’s way.

The race marshals ruled that the youngster’s driving had been dangerous, for which he received a reprimand from the four-man steward panel. This is no trivial offence. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) classifies a reprimand as a penalty, which is more severe than a warning. Multiple reprimands can have more severe consequences, such as a grid penalty, ranging from one place to several positions (three, five, ten).

The FIA stewards explain: “Car number 51 (Camara) was warned several times over the radio that car number 16, Leclerc, was on a fast lap. However, car 51 was swerving and straying far into the ideal racing line.”

“The driver of car 16 had to avoid a collision by swerving to the right, with a significant part of his car ending up off the track. The resulting situation was clearly dangerous, and the driver of car 51 should have taken greater care not to obstruct car 16.”

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“Whilst the typical penalty for obstruction in a free practice session is a warning, we consider that a reprimand is justified in this case.”