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Ferrari Faces Setback as Charles Leclerc Retires After Antonelli Crash
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Highlights
- Charles Leclerc retired early after collision on lap six.
- Crash involved Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
- Leclerc’s Ferrari suffered tyre and wishbone damage.
- Safety car deployed after Gabriel Bortoleto crashed on lap one.
- Oscar Piastri received penalties affecting race and points tally.
- Leclerc was fifth in 2025 drivers’ standings before retirement.
Charles Leclerc retires on lap six at Interlagos after contact triggered by Oscar Piastri’s move on Kimi Antonelli, ending Ferrari’s Brazilian Grand Prix with immediate damage.
The restart begins the incident. Piastri locks up into Turn 1, tags Antonelli, and the Mercedes skates wide into Leclerc’s SF-25, breaking the front-left tyre and wishbone.
Leclerc stops immediately, with steering damage and no driveability, forcing Ferrari to reset its approach and prioritise damage limitation in the remaining stint structure.
The race already carries early disruption. Lewis Hamilton drops from 13th to 18th after Turn 1 contact with Carlos Sainz, then clips Franco Colapinto and requires a new front wing.
Gabriel Bortoleto crashes on lap one, triggering a safety car that compresses strategies and tyre temperatures, and sets up the lap-six restart that proves decisive.
Leclerc retires on lap six after front-left suspension and tyre damage.
Piastri’s error falls under the usual ‘causing a collision’ threshold. Stewards issue penalties that compromise his stint offsets and ultimately his points outcome.
At the time of retirement, Leclerc sits fifth in the 2025 standings on 214 points, leaving Ferrari vulnerable in both championship fights.
The bigger cost is strategic. Ferrari loses a data point on tyre behaviour and traffic models at a circuit where undercut timing and deployment windows often decide track position.
A lap-one safety car follows Gabriel Bortoleto’s crash, reshaping early stint plans across the field.
Antonelli’s afternoon becomes a measure of resilience. The Mercedes rookie continues after the contact, but his progress is constrained by damage risk and compromised track placement.
Interlagos is a short, undulating permanent circuit, prone to bunching, variable winds, and high safety-car probability. Restarts frequently compress margins and amplify braking-temperature management.
For Leclerc, the episode underscores how restart dynamics and opportunistic moves can cascade. The priority now is clean weekends to stabilise Ferrari’s endgame in both championships.
Piastri locks up into Turn 1 at the restart, tags Antonelli, and the resulting ricochet eliminates Leclerc.
Visual Summary
Daniel Miller reports on Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends with race-day analysis, team-radio highlights, and point-standings updates. He explains power-unit upgrades, aerodynamic developments, and driver rivalries in straightforward, SEO-friendly language for a global F1 audience.
