Ferrari Hit With €10,000 Fine After Double Tyre Breach at Belgian GP

The FIA has handed Ferrari a €10,000 fine for separate tyre procedure breaches involving Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc during Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Scuderia electronically processed the return of two sets of dry tyres per car to Pirelli but failed to physically hand them back to the manufacturer between sessions, a lapse the team representative openly attributed to an oversight.

Why it matters:

While the €5,000 penalty for each car is modest by Formula 1 standards, any procedural breach draws unnecessary scrutiny from the stewards at a crucial stage of the race weekend. For a team riding high after recent victories and chasing consecutive wins for the first time since October 2024, even minor administrative errors are unwelcome distractions as Ferrari fights to stay at the sharp end of the championship battle.

The details:

• FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer flagged the discrepancy after Friday's running at Spa, prompting a double investigation despite Ferrari's electronic return confirmations being filed correctly.
• The stewards issued identical €5,000 fines for Hamilton's Car 44 and Leclerc's entry, bringing the total sanction to €10,000.
• On-track performance painted a mixed picture for the Italian squad. Hamilton finished second in FP1 and backed it up with fourth in FP2, though he remained 0.747 seconds adrift of pacesetter Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes. Leclerc took third in the morning session before slipping to 11th in the afternoon.

What's next:

Ferrari will aim to move past the procedural slip and sharpen its focus for qualifying and race setup at Spa-Francorchamps. With Hamilton's triumph in Barcelona and Leclerc's home victory at Silverstone providing genuine momentum, the Maranello outfit is targeting back-to-back wins for the first time since October 2024.