ABU DHABI — The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc is due to be investigated by the stewards at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after an irregularity between the amount of fuel in the car and the amount declared by the team.
Leclerc will start the race from third, but as his car arrived on the grid the FIA issued the following statement.
“The fuel declaration of car number 16 was checked before the car left the pit-lane,” it read. “There was a significant difference between the declaration of the team and the amount of fuel inside the car. As this is non in compliance with TD/12-19 I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”
The news comes after months of speculation about Ferrari’s fuel system and a number of technical directives clarifying the rules around how they work. However, the technical directive in question is not the one that was issued ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix, which led to Max Verstappen accusing Ferrari of cheating.
A Ferrari team representative has been summoned to the stewards at 19:45, which will be roughly an hour after the race has finished.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the race, Christian Horner said he thinks Leclerc will get thrown out of the race.
“I think the interesting thing about it is the word significant they’ve put in there, there’s a ‘significant difference’. The technical regulations are black and white. Usually with a case like that, it’s either legal or it isn’t.
Asked if he thought Leclerc would be disqualified, Horner replied: “I can’t see how he won’t be”