Leclerc cleared after Spa collision with Piastri
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 20, 2026
Leclerc cleared after clash
Charles Leclerc left Spa-Francorchamps without a penalty after his lap-eight collision with Oscar Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix, and the stewards closed the matter after a video and onboard review. The pair fought for third place at Les Combes when the contact happened. Leclerc stayed in the race, and the FIA stewards ruled he did not deliberately crowd Piastri off the track. They also said Piastri had not established enough overlap and had no realistic chance of completing the pass. That decision kept Leclerc’s result intact and put the focus back on what followed in the McLaren camp. Piastri’s move on the outside came under scrutiny because the contact came at a key point in the race, with both drivers battling for a podium spot and little room to spare through the corner. The ruling gave Leclerc a clear path to keep pushing and left Piastri with damage that shaped the rest of his afternoon.
Piastri damage hurts
The McLaren picked up floor damage in the clash, and that sent Piastri into the rest of the race with downforce and balance problems. The damage also increased tyre degradation, which made his task harder as the laps piled up. Piastri said he was squeezed wide while trying to pass Leclerc on the outside and felt a warning or a black-and-white flag would have been the right response. His complaint centered on how little room he had when he committed to the move and how the contact changed the race for him after that point. He could not recover enough ground to stay in the fight for the top three, and he finished fifth. Leclerc, meanwhile, got on with his own race and later briefly inherited the lead under a virtual safety car before settling into a strong result. He crossed the line second behind Kimi Antonelli. The sequence underlined how one corner shifted the balance of the front-runners. Leclerc walked away with a podium finish, and Piastri had to manage the fallout from the damage for the remainder of the race.
Hamilton penalty stands
Lewis Hamilton also drew attention from the stewards after a rough opening lap. He received a five-second penalty for a clash with George Russell, and that added another layer to a race already shaped by stewards’ decisions and track contact. Hamilton was also under investigation for an unsafe pit release, which kept him in the spotlight beyond the first-lap incident. The Hamilton call did not change the central verdict on Leclerc and Piastri, but it showed how busy the stewards were at Spa-Francorchamps. The opening lap set the tone for more than one inquiry, and the race quickly became one where contact, positioning and track limits carried real consequences. Leclerc’s case ended with no further action. Piastri’s race was compromised by the damage he carried after the collision. Hamilton’s penalty made the early exchanges even more costly. Together, the incidents left the Belgian Grand Prix with a clear pattern. The stewards backed one driver after review, penalized another, and let the race results settle around the decisions they made on the day.
