Ferrari avoided a costly sporting setback at Spa after FIA stewards fined the team €10,000 for failing to return practice tyres before FP2. The breach involved both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, but neither driver received a grid penalty, reprimand, or change to his session result.
Ferrari had electronically registered 2 dry tyre sets from each car as returned following FP1. The garage did not physically deliver those sets to Pirelli before the next session began. Jo Bauer, the FIA Formula 1 technical delegate, reported the failure and referred both cars to the stewards.
Officials treated the cases separately, fining Ferrari €5,000 for car 44 and another €5,000 for car 16. The team admitted that an oversight caused the mistake. What could have become a serious complication remained an embarrassing and avoidable hit to Ferrari’s bank account.
Ferrari Pays For A Garage Error
Ferrari completed the electronic part of the tyre return process for both cars. That declaration identified which sets the team intended to surrender. It did not replace the required physical handover to Pirelli.
The affected sets were registered under references 16 301 and 16 401 for Leclerc, plus 44 301 and 44 401 for Hamilton. All 4 sets should have reached the supplier before FP2 started.
The FIA decisions did not identify the Ferrari representative who attended the hearings. They recorded only that the team acknowledged the breach and blamed an oversight.
No evidence suggested Ferrari had used the tyres improperly or gained an advantage on track. The infringement came from the garage operation rather than anything Hamilton or Leclerc did inside their cars.
That distinction shaped the penalty. Stewards could hold Ferrari responsible without allowing a procedural mistake behind the scenes to influence the competitive order.
Why The Physical Handover Matters
Article B6.4.2 requires teams to complete more than an electronic declaration. Any tyre set marked as returned must also be handed to the appointed supplier before the following session begins.
Pirelli controls each driver’s allocation throughout the weekend. Returning the physical tyres allows their engineers to inspect them for cuts, pressure concerns, structural damage, and other safety issues. It also confirms that a surrendered set can no longer be used by the team.
Sky Sports F1 analyst Bernie Collins explained that teams scan the barcodes before sending the tyres back for those checks. She also placed responsibility firmly on Ferrari’s operating procedures, saying, “The only thing is it’s neither the drivers’ fault. It’s a team procedural thing.”
The published rulings confirmed that Pirelli had not received the sets when FP2 began. They did not reveal when Ferrari eventually completed the handover. There is therefore no verified figure showing whether the team missed the deadline by several minutes or a significantly longer period.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged that the team had been late and indicated that he expected a financial punishment. The stewards reached that outcome after reviewing separate reports for both cars.
Paddock Response Backs A Team Penalty
Collins believed the breach required a punishment because Ferrari had failed to complete a controlled tyre procedure. Her analysis also reflected the main argument against a sporting penalty. The mistake belonged to the team personnel responsible for managing the sets.
Recent cases offered a clear precedent. Williams received a fine following a similar tyre return issue at the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix. Haas faced the same type of financial punishment in Hungary during the following season.
Ferrari’s €10,000 bill followed that established approach. The rules were enforced, but the response remained proportionate to the nature of the infringement and the absence of a proven competitive benefit.
Once the stewards closed the administrative matter, Ferrari could return its attention to the problem that carried much greater consequences at Spa. Mercedes had established the pace on the timing screens, while Ferrari’s encouraging start to Friday had begun to fade.
Antonelli Sets The Benchmark As Ferrari Slips Back
Hamilton opened the weekend by finishing FP1 in 2nd place, only 0.145 seconds behind Max Verstappen. Leclerc followed in 3rd, giving Ferrari an encouraging start around a circuit that places a premium on straight-line speed and confidence through fast corners.
Mercedes answered in FP2. Kimi Antonelli recorded a 1:45.944 on the soft tyre and finished 0.190 seconds clear of Lando Norris. Hamilton took 4th, 0.747 seconds behind the Mercedes driver.
The leading qualifying attempts were completed on soft tyres, so Antonelli’s margin was not the product of an obvious compound difference. Mercedes had also made substantial setup changes between sessions, helping Antonelli find a stronger balance during the afternoon running.
Pierre Gasly’s crash brought out a red flag with 14 minutes remaining. Most drivers had completed their fastest laps, but the interruption reduced the time available for longer high-fuel runs. Ferrari therefore ended the session with less race data than planned.
Leclerc finished 11th after track limits erased his quickest effort. That deletion prevented Ferrari from making a clean comparison between its 2 cars.
Hamilton was broadly satisfied with the SF 26’s balance, although he identified the middle sector as the main weakness. That section rewards stability through Spa’s flowing corners, an area where Mercedes appeared to hold a clear advantage.
Ferrari escaped the tyre investigation without damage to either driver’s starting position. The €10,000 fine will not decide the Belgian Grand Prix. Finding the missing time through Sector 2 might.
READ MORE: Verstappen Leads Tight Spa FP1 After Red Bull Shelves Problematic New Rear Wing
FAQs
Why did Ferrari receive a €10,000 fine at Spa?
Ferrari electronically returned 4 tyre sets but failed to physically deliver them to Pirelli before FP2 began. The stewards imposed a €5,000 fine for each car.
Did Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc receive grid penalties?
No. The stewards fined Ferrari as the competitor and did not impose sporting penalties on either driver.
How many tyre sets did Ferrari fail to return?
Ferrari failed to physically return 4 sets in total. The breach involved 2 sets allocated to Hamilton and 2 allocated to Leclerc.
What does FIA Article B6.4.2 require?
It requires teams to physically return every electronically surrendered tyre set to Pirelli before the following track session begins.
Who was the fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix FP2?
Kimi Antonelli led FP2 for Mercedes with a time of 1:45.944. Lewis Hamilton finished 4th, while Charles Leclerc placed 11th.
