Official Ferrari penalty decision made by FIA at Chinese Grand Prix

The FIA have reached an official verdict following an investigation into Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the Chinese Grand Prix after Friday's sprint qualifying.

It was Lewis Hamilton who claimed a shock pole position in Shanghai, beating team-mate Leclerc who set the fourth fastest time in the session.

However, Leclerc and Ferrari were summoned to see the stewards after the session over an accusation of driving unnecessarily slowly, exceeding the set limit of 1:54.00sec between the two safety car lines.

Leclerc was cleared of any wrongdoing, with the stewards accepting that there were extenuating circumstances for him exceeding the limit.

Positive signs for Ferrari in China

FIA drama or no, the first day of running in Shanghai has looked much more promising for Ferrari than last weekend in Australia, where the Italian team qualified seventh and eighth before botching a strategy decision to finish a chaotic race eighth and tenth.

Hamilton set the fastest time in two of the three sprint qualifying periods on Friday, with both Scuderia drivers showcasing impressive pace – although the Brit's pole was still a massive surprise.

Leclerc did show a little confusion about a team radio call in SQ2, saying after being asked to swap positions on-track with Hamilton: “Yes, I’ll do it, but we’ve never done that. And I’m a bit in the s*** as well, so...”

In a team radio message to race engineer Riccardo Adami, Hamilton seemed in disbelief at his pole position and later revealed he was 'gob-smacked' by the result to the press.

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