Leclerc and Antonelli hit with post-race penalties in Sao Paulo

Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli have been handed five-second time penalties for separate incidents at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the former held responsible for causing a collision with Liam Lawson over the final laps while Mercedes released Antonelli in an unsafe manner.

Looking to recover as many positions as possible following what he labelled a "horrendous" opening stint at Interlagos, Leclerc steadily closed the gap down to the Racing Bulls driver amid increasing rainfall.

As their tight battle for seventh developed, the Monegasque tapped the left rear wheel of Lawson's car at Turn 12 before sweeping around the outside to demote the New Zealander on the penultimate lap.

The stewards determined that the contact merited a time penalty for Leclerc, and with Lawson crossing the line just under two seconds behind, the pair have subsequently swapped places in the race classification to leave Leclerc eighth.

"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 16 (Charles Leclerc), the driver of Car 30 (Liam Lawson), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 16 made contact with Car 30 at turn 12," the verdict read.

"While the contact was minor and Car 30 was able to maintain the lead thereafter, thedriver of Car 30 claimed that the contact damaged the rear left rim of his car and also enabled Car 16 to get closer to him on track and then eventually overtake him 5 corners later. Furthermore, under the Driving Standard Guidelines, Car 30 had the right to the corner and it was for Car 16 to take the necessary steps to avoid a collision.

"The driver of Car 16 claimed that it was a minor contact with no obvious sporting consequence. While we acknowledge that the contact was minor, having examined the fight on track between the two cars, we conclude that Car 16 was able to get closer to and thereafter overtake Car 30 because of the contact. The contact clearly disrupted Car 30 and allowed Car 16 to pull up alongside when it was further away before the contact. This was an obvious sporting consequence.

"In mitigation, the wet conditions coupled with the nature of the contact (ie minor) was taken into account in imposing a 5 second time penalty as opposed to a 10 second time penalty."

Antonelli was also penalised for an unsafe release after Mercedes inadvertently sent him into the path of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto in the pit lane, forcing the Italian to swerve in order to prevent contact.

Although five seconds has been added to his race time, he retains P5 thanks to what was originally a 20-second advantage over sixth-placed Oscar Piastri.

The official document explained: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 12 (Kimi Antonelli), team representative and reviewed video and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 12 was released in an unsafe manner when Car 43 was approaching in the fast lane.

“While Car 12 was entitled to travel down the pit lane in parallel to cars in the fast lane, in this instance, Car 12 momentarily lost control on the slippery surface and had to take steps to avoid a collision and that resulted in a potentially unsafe situation.

“The team acknowledged that this release could have been handled better and in a safer manner.”

In a similar incident, Haas driver Ollie Bearman has been handed a five-second time penalty after he was released in an unsafe manner just as Leclerc was passing him in the pit lane.

However, he had enough of a lead over Cadillac's Sergio Perez to hold onto P17, which marked a missed opportunity for points after he started from a career-best sixth on the grid.

"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 87 (Oliver Bearman), the driver of Car 16 (Charles Leclerc), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, and in-car video evidence," read the stewards' document.

"BEA was released from its pit stop into the path of LEC, which was already proceeding along the pit lane. As a result, LEC was forced to brake and take evasive action, being squeezed towards the pit wall on the right-hand side.

"The Stewards determined that BEA was released in an unsafe manner and therefore imposed a 5 second time penalty."