Charles Leclerc has been given a three-place penalty for the final race of the season after his collision with Sergio Perez at the Sakhir Grand Prix.
Leclerc collided with Perez on the opening lap, knocking the Racing Point driver into a spin which also caught out Max Verstappen. Leclerc and Vetstappen ended up with their cars in the wall, while Perez was spun around and sent to the back of the pack.
Remarkably, Perez went on to win the race.
Leclerc and Verstappen’s race was finished. Speaking shortly after the incident, Verstappen said blame lay with Leclerc.
“I don’t know why they were being so aggressive and so reckless,” Verstappen said. “We are all up in the front, and at the end of the day now, three cars basically were the victim of that, two cars heavily.
“I don’t really know why, especially Charles in Turn 4, why he dives up the inside like that, especially to brake that late as well. What do you expect?
“Checo [Perez] cannot see what is happening on the inside, and [Leclerc] basically just locked his wheel and understeered into him. When Checo was spinning backwards, I tried to go around the outside, tried not to damage my car, but there’s nothing you can do there.”
The stewards agreed with Verstappen’s viewpoint, handing Leclerc a three-place grid drop for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 13.