Stewards clear Leclerc after FP2 stoppage ‘misunderstanding’ in Las Vegas
Charles Leclerc can park the paperwork. After a brief visit to the stewards on Friday night in Las Vegas, the Ferrari driver was cleared with no further action for his late-session stoppage that briefly scrambled marshals and raised eyebrows.
Leclerc, in his seventh full season with Ferrari, had looked sharp all day under the Strip’s neon glare. He topped FP1, then slipped to third in FP2 as the track ramped up. The hiccup came in the closing minutes when a suspected gearbox issue left his SF-24‑variant stranded at the side of the circuit.
What followed was awkward rather than incendiary. Leclerc climbed out, the car refused to slot into neutral, and marshals moved in to recover it. In the confusion, he briefly powered the car back on to try and help select neutral—against the marshals’ initial instruction—before shutting it down once everyone agreed it was safe.
The stewards reviewed video, in-car footage and radio traffic, and accepted Leclerc’s explanation that he was trying to assist with recovery after the initial shutdown. No penalty, no reprimand—just a note that the situation had been a muddle rather than a misdemeanour.
Leclerc called it exactly that. A misunderstanding. He pointed out the steering wheel was back on, he tried to help, and then he complied. It didn’t need more drama than that, and thankfully, it didn’t get any.
On the stopwatch, Ferrari had plenty to like. Leclerc’s early pace re-lit memories of his 2024 pole here, while the long-run reads left him cautiously chirpy. The Monegasque said the car’s in a good window, but he wasn’t handing out any guarantees with Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull all looming in a tight pack.
The equation is familiar: anticipate the night-time grip shift, keep the tyres in their tiny operating window, and pick the right set-up direction before qualifying locks everything in. Leclerc sounded confident he knows what he wants from the car overnight—now Ferrari has to back that instinct.
Worth noting, too, the wider context for the Scuderia. This is a Ferrari that’s come into 2025 with serious firepower alongside Leclerc, and while Friday belonged more to the stopwatch than headlines, there’s an unmistakable sense the team expects to be at the sharp end on street circuits like this. But Vegas is fickle; temperatures swing, the surface punishes the impatient, and one misjudged out-lap can turn a front-row shot into a midfield scrap.
Still, if Friday was any guide, Leclerc’s got the rhythm. The only mess he got into was an administrative one, and that’s now been tidied away. The real test arrives on Saturday night, when the lights go up, the grip goes missing, and the margins get razor thin. Don’t be surprised if the red car is right in the middle of it.
