Laurent Mekies: Charles Leclerc’s penalty “felt a bit light”
· Yahoo Sports
Ferrari’s divisive opening lap at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez provided the ultimate gift to their rivals. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton's desperate wheel-to-wheel clash at Turn 4 fundamentally altered the trajectory of the Mexico City Grand Prix, but the subsequent ruling from the FIA stewards left some on the pitwall severely underwhelmed.
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Watching the scarlet cars run completely off the track immediately triggered alarms for team principal Laurent Mekies. The French executive closely monitored the lap 1 chaos, instantly recognising that a sporting sanction was inevitable for the Monegasque driver leaving the asphalt and gaining a lasting advantage.
"The first thing that comes to your mind is that should be a penalty," Mekies revealed during his post-race media duties. "That's the first thing that come to your mind as a competitor at that moment."
A five-second penalty
Race control ultimately handed the Ferrari star a five-second time penalty, but the delayed timing of the decision severely blunted its actual impact on the running order. Because Leclerc had already used the clean air to pull a massive gap over his team-mate, the time deduction was partly negated because of this.
"We were certainly a bit surprised by how long it took to see the penalty confirmed," Mekies admitted, noting the glaring flaw in the FIA's delayed ruling. "We were also surprised that it was only five seconds because probably at the time they had given that penalty, I think Charles was already clear five seconds from Lewis anyway."
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, FerrariThe team boss did not hold back his frustration with the regulatory leniency, stating the punishment "felt a bit light" but acknowledging "it's what it is".
The perfect cover
Rather than relying solely on the stewards to neutralise the Ferrari threat, the strategy group took matters into their own hands. When Leclerc dived into the pits for fresh tyres, Mekies and his pitwall executed a flawless cover strategy, bringing their own car in simultaneously to deny the Maranello squad any clean-air undercut advantage.
"It was once again an extremely strong execution," Mekies praised. "The usual suspects with the strategy group and on the pitwall that came up with that when we heard Charles was coming in, and that was the best we had just about the gap to him considering the penalty, and took the shot, and it worked."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen, Red Bull RacingThe tactical masterclass, combined with a fierce defensive drive from race winner Max Verstappen, ultimately kept the Ferraris at bay. Mekies specifically highlighted Verstappen's clinical driving during the opening stint, stating he did "undoubtedly a very good job at keeping Lewis and Charles behind for the moment they were racing with him".
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