"Now we all can breathe": Fans react as Charles Leclerc escapes penalty for the George Russell overtake in the F1 Dutch GP

Image credits: Getty, George Russell and Charles Leclerc, In Circle: X@F1, Leclerc and Russell on Lap 32 at the 2025 Dutch GP
Image credits: Getty, George Russell and Charles Leclerc, In Circle: X@F1, Leclerc and Russell on Lap 32 at the 2025 Dutch GP

Charles Leclerc and George Russell were summoned by the race stewards after the 2025 Dutch GP for their collision on Lap 32 as the Monegasque made a move on the Mercedes driver. The FIA has come out with a verdict of no further action against the Ferrari driver, with the fans reacting to the same.

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Charles Leclerc was stuck behind George Russell for the first stint when Ferrari made the call to undercut the Mercedes driver on Lap 22. However, Lewis Hamilton's crash on Lap 23 gave Russell a cheap pitstop, and he remained ahead of the Ferrari star.

The Monegasque then made a bold move on the Briton on Lap 32 as he got alongside Russell on the outside of Turn 11, which turned on the inside for Turn 12. The two drivers made contact as the Mercedes driver wasn't ready to give up a position, and Charles Leclerc dipped a wheel into the gravel. The incident also led to some damage to Russell's Mercedes.

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The FIA noted the incident between Leclerc and Russell and decided to investigate the same after the race, as both drivers were summoned by the stewards. After hearing both the drivers and reviewing the video, it was decided that no further action would be taken.

“The available evidence was inconclusive as to whether Car 16 left the track. Both team representatives were in agreement that there was no clear evidence that Car 16 had left the track,” read the FIA’s document.
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“Both drivers felt that this was a racing incident and that there should be no further consequence to either driver for the incident. We reviewed all the available evidence and arrived at the same conclusion. We accordingly took no further action.”

Fans came out and were relieved that Charles Leclerc wasn't penalized.

“Now we all can breath 😮‍💨,” commented a fan.
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Another wrote, “Thank god!!! Omg what I relief 😮‍💨.”
“Finally a good decision from the FIA,” commented a user on X.

Some came out and hailed Charles Leclerc's move on George Russell as the overtake of the decade, as they commented,

“Best overtake of the decade insane LEGOAT 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐.”
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Another wrote, “Then this is officially CL’s best overtake ever.”
“Justice is served!!!” mentioned another fan.

Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc retired from the race on Lap 53 after making contact with Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli.


Charles Leclerc blames Kimi Antonelli’s “overly optimistic” move for the Dutch GP retirement

Kimi Antonelli was running behind Charles Leclerc and pitted on Lap 52 to undercut the Ferrari driver. The Monegasque pitted the very next lap to defend from the overcut, and had the Italian driver hot on his gearbox at the pit exit. Antonelli tried making a move into Turn 3, washed out, and crashed into Leclerc, which put the Ferrari into the barrier and spun him around.

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Speaking about the incident, Charles Leclerc said,

“What created the incident is Kimi being overly optimistic on the inside of Turn 3, which is fine – you’ve got to be aggressive and mistakes happen. But it hurts, because it cost a lot to the team after what was a good race. I think the pace was good. I had to be very aggressive to make up the places that we had lost because of being unlucky during the first Safety Car. We did kind of everything right, so it was a shame.” (via F1)

Antonelli was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision as well as two penalty points on his super licence.

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Edited by Pranay Bhagi
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