Ferrari lament 'double penalty' after 'paying full price' of Charles Leclerc wipe out

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was left to lament "a tough Sunday" and the "very harsh" outcome of Charles Leclerc's exit from the São Paulo Grand Prix.

For the second time this season, and for the first time in five years, Ferrari suffered a second double DNF of the campaign, with the retirement of Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton following swiftly on the back of their demise in the Dutch GP.

Leclerc was the unwitting victim of an incident at the restart of the race on lap six after a safety car period, with the Monégasque punted off the track and out of the race after being hit by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli following his collision with McLaren's Oscar Piastri on the approach to Turn 1.

As for Hamilton, he retired after 37 laps as a result of significant damage in two incidents on the opening lap, initially with Williams' Carlos Sainz at Turn 1, and then at the end when he hit the back of Alpine's Franco Colapinto, resulting in the seven-time champion losing the front wing on his SF-25.

It means Ferrari has now slipped to fourth in the constructors' championship, four points behind third-placed Red Bull, and 36 adrift of second-placed Mercedes.

"A tough weekend, at least a tough Sunday," said Vasseur, spekaing to the media, including RacingNews365. "I had the feeling that with Charles, we were in a good place, that he had a good start, a good restart, that he took margin on the kerb, and we paid the full price of the crash between Antonelli and Piastri.

"I don't care about who is at fault between Piastri and Antonelli, but for sure, it was not Charles!

"And it's tough, because in this fight, you can't give up points. When you give up points, you give points to the others. It's the double penalty, and in our case, it's very harsh."

As for whether he could find any positives from the weekend, Vasseur struggled initially, stating: "When you are at the end of the championship, it's difficult when you have a double DNF."

He then added: "But I would say that if I have to take a positive, it's the pace in quali, the recovery, that even at the start, the restart, we are fighting, looking at the front, not looking at the guy behind us, trying to attack.

"It's a positive attitude and this is good, but when you are at this point of the championship, you are more focused on points than on potential."