The stewards handed out three five-second penalties after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc dropped from seventh to eighth for contact with Liam Lawson, while Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman each received five seconds for unsafe pit lane releases. Antonelli and Bearman kept their positions, so the only result that changed is the order of Leclerc and Lawson.
Leclerc and Lawson: contact on the penultimate lap
According to F1.com, Leclerc tapped the left rear wheel of Lawson's car at Turn 12 on the penultimate lap and swept around the outside to take the place. The Racing Bulls driver lost seventh. RacingNews365 described the same moment as Leclerc barging Lawson out of the way at Juncao.
The stewards heard from both drivers and team representatives, and reviewed positioning data, video and in-car footage. They found the contact minor but said it had an obvious sporting consequence, because it let Leclerc pull alongside and pass. They also noted that Lawson had the right to the corner under the Driving Standard Guidelines.
The wet conditions and the minor nature of the contact are why the penalty was five seconds rather than ten. Lawson finished just under two seconds behind, so the five seconds swapped the two. The source articles do not mention penalty points.
Antonelli and Bearman: two pit lane releases
Antonelli was released by Mercedes as the field pitted for intermediates, and Alpine's Franco Colapinto had to check up as he approached in the fast lane. The stewards wrote that Antonelli's car momentarily lost control on the slippery surface, and that the team acknowledged the release could have been handled better and more safely.
Antonelli kept fifth. RacingNews365 reported that his gap to sixth-placed Oscar Piastri shrank from 20.4 seconds to 15.4 seconds, while F1.com described the original lead as around 20 seconds. Mercedes sealed the constructors' title in this race, with George Russell fourth.
Bearman was released from his pit stop into the path of Leclerc, who was already in the pit lane. Leclerc had to brake and was squeezed towards the pit wall. The five seconds did not change Bearman's 17th place. F1.com reports he started from a career-best sixth on the grid and held off Cadillac's Sergio Pérez.
When the stewards met the drivers
RacingNews365 reported the local-time schedule: Antonelli and Mercedes at 16:30, Leclerc at 16:45 and Bearman at 17:15. The same article noted the summons did not threaten Mercedes' constructors' title. The sources do not cite rule articles or penalty points from the decision documents, so this report does not either.
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