Kimi Antonelli received a warning from the FIA stewards after the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Spanish GP, held at the Madrid circuit this Saturday. The Mercedes driver was investigated for not complying with the maximum allowed time between the SC2 and SC1 lines.
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The investigation involved three drivers, Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, and Gabriel Bortoleto, all called by the stewards after the session. In the case of the Italian, the decision did not change his qualifying result but officially recorded the failure to meet the required reference time.
According to the stewards’ document, Antonelli returned to the pits after completing his last fast lap in Q3 without any interference from other cars and did not respect the minimum established time. During the hearing, the driver explained that he had difficulties maintaining the delta due to energy management and minor technical issues.
Antonelli also acknowledged that he could have done more to meet the set limit. Given this, the stewards chose to issue a warning to the driver.
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Bortoleto received the same penalty. The stewards considered that the Brazilian had to give way to another car in the second sector and was unable to recover enough time to stay within the delta. He claimed that energy management made recovery difficult after yielding space, an argument the stewards found understandable, although they concluded there was room for additional action.
Leclerc had a different outcome. Ferrari received a reprimand because the team provided the driver with an incorrect delta profile due to a calculation error. The stewards concluded that Leclerc followed the value displayed on the dashboard and made no mistake, holding the team solely responsible. The decision also highlighted that the deviation did not bring any performance advantage to the car or disadvantage to other competitors.
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