Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has kept his podium finish at Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a lengthy investigation over an alleged fuel anomaly, with the team handed a fine.
Leclerc was placed under investigation pre-race when Technical Delegate Jo Bauer flagged up an anomaly regarding the fuel declaration in the car.
Bauer noted that there was a “significant difference between the declaration of the team and the amount of fuel inside the car.”
Leclerc was permitted to start the race but was placed under investigation, with a notification that the incident would be looked at later in the evening.
Stewards investigated and ultimately fined Ferrari for the breach but Leclerc has kept his podium position.
"The Stewards heard from the team representative, FIA Technical Delegate and the FIA Head of Single Seater Technical Matters," read a statement.
"TD/014-19 required teams to declare the amount of fuel that they intended to put in the car for the laps to the grid, the formation lap, the race, the in-lap and any fire-ups that would be needed.
"The Technical Delegate was able to confirm the fuel mass put in the tank by checking in accordance with the procedure specified in TD/014-19.
"There was a difference of 4.88kgs between the team’s declaration for car 16 and the Technical Delegate’s measured fuel mass. The team’s declaration was therefore inaccurate and constituted a breach of the Technical Directive.
"This in turn constitutes an infringement of Article 12.1.1.i of the International Sporting Code.
"Accordingly, the stewards determined that the team should be fined €50,000 for its inaccurate declaration."
