The incident occurred late in the race as Russell dived down the inside of Turn 1 while battling Leclerc for third place.
The Ferrari driver was already hit with a five-second time penalty during the race for “erratic driving,” a sanction that didn’t impact his fourth-place finish but has now been followed by a superlicence penalty point.
Leclerc came under scrutiny for appearing to make two defensive moves on the main straight in a bid to fend off the Mercedes. While Russell completed the pass without contact, the FIA deemed Leclerc’s actions excessive.
“Car 63 moved to overtake Car 16 on the inside into Turn 1. Car 16 moved towards Car 63 on the main straight before braking and subsequently moved a second time, now under braking, nearly causing a collision with Car 63,” the stewards said in their official report.
“The Stewards consider both moves combined to constitute erratic driving.”
So close to contact! 😵
Russell gets past Leclerc and into the podium places 🥉#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/nZC8vsvoCj
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2025
Alongside the time penalty, the 27-year-old was given one penalty point — his first of the current 12-month window.
Leclerc admitted post-race that his move was “on the limit” but was unfazed by the punishment.
“I don’t have much [of an] opinion about it,” he said. “I felt like I moved before braking and then I braked, obviously angling my car towards the apex, which is normally what I do.
“But I can imagine George being quite vocal on the radio. It’s normally the case.”
Russell, who also has one penalty point in the current 12-month window, was less impressed.
“You can’t just brake and turn to avoid somebody because you’re already at the limit of that grip,” he said.
“So I made my intentions really clear, dive into the inside and he moved after he had committed to braking, which is not allowed in the rules.”
Pierre Gasly also received his first penalty points of the season in Hungary for an incident with Carlos Sainz, after forcing the Williams driver off-track at Turn 4 in a move the stewards deemed “wholly” his fault. He was also handed a 10-second time penalty during the race.
Introduced in 2014, F1’s penalty points system is designed to deter repeated rule-breaking by tracking driver infractions throughout the season.
Drivers receive between one and three points per offence, and any driver who accumulates 12 points within a 12-month period is automatically handed a one-race ban. Points expire exactly one year after they are issued.
With Leclerc and Gasly now on the board, only Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar remain on zero penalty points in the current 12-month window.
Max Verstappen, who came perilously close to a race ban after reaching 11 penalty points following the Spanish Grand Prix, still tops the list with nine. He sits one ahead of Oliver Bearman on eight.
To date, Kevin Magnussen remains the only driver to receive a race ban under the system, after reaching the 12-point threshold last season.
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