F1 stewards admit error in Leclerc/Piastri Spa collision

The FIA stewards have now accepted they should have taken action against Charles Leclerc for his clash with Oscar Piastri in Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The controversial incident became a major talking point during a long-planned meeting between drivers and FIA stewards at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday night.

The Hungaroring get-together was the first of two annual gatherings that the FIA has with drivers to discuss how incidents are policed and whether tweaks need to be made to F1’s driving guidelines for improved consistency.

Leclerc had squeezed Piastri on the entry to Les Combes and they made contact, with the McLaren suffering floor damage.

The stewards felt at the time that it was nothing more than a racing incident.

They suggested that Piastri had had no realistic hope of pulling off the move and that Leclerc had just been taking his normal racing line.

That call triggered some unease among drivers about a precedent being set for more robust defence in braking zones – which can be a dangerous place for cars to make contact.

As Piastri said ahead of the weekend: “If we think that that's fine, it's one thing having touches like that, but even just the incentive of knowing that you can leave everyone the absolute bare minimum space and get away with it, that's not the nicest place to be.”

Following what was some lengthy debate in the meeting about the Leclerc call, it is understood that the FIA stewards accepted that in hindsight it should have been acted upon – and that Leclerc’s actions were likely worthy of a five-second penalty.

While Leclerc is understood to have argued that the situation in Belgium was not entirely black-and-white, he had conceded earlier in the day that perhaps his move had been a bit over the limit.

“At the end of the day my view in the car is that I try to push the things to the limit," he said.

“I think with Oscar it was a bit on the other side - so that's probably not the way I want to race all the time. It's also risky for me at the end of the day.

“You're always trying to leave the smallest place available. That was maybe a bit too sketchy.”

Restart leniency

It is understood that the Hungary meeting included discussions over some minor tweaks to the driving guidelines for 2027.

These will likely be finalised in a follow-up meeting that typically takes place towards the end of the season.

One decision that was agreed for immediate implementation was for the stewards to show more leniency when it came to incidents that take place at safety car restarts – just as happens on the opening lap of races.

Drivers have long argued that low tyre pressures and complications caused by energy deployment patterns had made things harder to judge after restarts, and this was taken on board by the stewards.

Hamilton missed meeting

Lewis Hamilton was one of five drivers that missed the meeting – despite being on the receiving end of a controversial sanction in Belgium last weekend.

Hamilton got what many felt was a harsh punishment for a first lap clash with George Russell, with neither he nor his Mercedes rival thinking it was anything other than a racing incident.

But despite the FIA meeting having been a good opportunity to get some clarity on the thinking behind the call, Hamilton joined several of his rivals in not attending the FIA get together.

It is not clear whether Hamilton’s absence from the meeting was a deliberate choice or if he had a clashing commitment that meant he was unable to attend.

The others who missed the meeting were Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.