Explained: Why Charles Leclerc escaped penalty for his pitlane crash with Lando Norris during the F1 Singapore GP FP2

Charles Leclerc walked away with no penalty for his pitlane incident with Lando Norris during the Singapore Grand Prix FP2, as the stewards deemed that he was not at fault for causing the collision. However, the Ferrari team has been fined €10,000 for giving Leclerc "unclear instructions", leading to the accident.

After the second and final red flag period of the Singapore GP FP2 session was over, drivers were in a rush to get out of their pitboxes and go out on track to complete their qualifying simulations. This caused mayhem in the pit lane, which included a bizarre crash between Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.

Leclerc was released right onto the path of an oncoming Norris, in an incident which looked clearly to be an unsafe release by the Ferrari team. The #4 McLaren ended up on the side of the pit lane, with a damaged front wing.

Both Leclerc and Norris were summoned to the stewards after the session, and they have determined that neither driver was at fault for the incident. Rather, the Ferrari team, and specifically one "team member", was held responsible for giving "unclear instructions" to Leclerc.

"The team member, who was responsible for the safe conduct of releasing car 16, misjudged the situation and gave unclear instructions to LEC, who could not see NOR's car. As a result, both cars collided in the fast lane," read the original report (via FIA F1 Documents Bot).

As a result, the Ferrari team has been fined €10,000 for the incident due to a breach of Article 34.14 a) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, which deals with pitlane safety and infringements.

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Charles Leclerc reflects on bizarre pitlane incident with Lando Norris during Singapore GP FP2

Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Charles Leclerc explained that his pitlane incident with Lando Norris at the Singapore GP FP2 occurred due to "a bit of confusion" from his race engineer's side. The 27-year-old also said that he has to rely on his team in such situations, while adding that such mistakes can occur.

Speaking to the media about the incident after the Friday practice session, Leclerc said:

"It was a bit of confusion with the two McLarens going out. It looked like they were going out at the same time. So he [his mechanic] thought that they would go out a bit slow, and so I didn't have the message to stop. On these cases, you kind of rely on the team." [via Autosport]

"But these things happen, and it was also in a tricky moment because with all the red flags, everybody was in such a rush to get out to do some laps. So, it's a combination of things. It's not something you want, but these things happen," he added.

Charles Leclerc also reflected on his Friday as a whole, claiming that he felt much better in FP1 than he did in FP2. The second session of the day, he explained, was "very messy", thanks to traffic and the two red flags. He ended the FP2 session in P9, with his teammate Lewis Hamilton just behind him in tenth.