Mattia Binotto vowed to protest against the "nonsense decision" to slap Charles Leclerc with a five-second time penalty for his over-zealous defending against Sergio Perez in the dying embers of the Japanese Grand Prix.
When Max Verstappen crossed the finish line, few expected him to have done enough to be crowned champion at Suzuka. He had not scored the extra point for fastest lap so, even with full points being handed out for a truncated race, the assumption was Leclerc had delayed his coronation by crossing the line second.
But the Monegasque was only able to do so after a desperate battle with Perez on the final lap. On the final corner he pushed the Red Bull wide to make sure he stayed ahead, but that move wasn't seen too kindly by the stewards.
Leclerc was almost immediately punished with a five-second time penalty. It meant Perez finished the race second and the Ferrari star had to settle for third, meaning he could no longer mathematically catch Verstappen in the drivers' standings.
Replays of the incident showed it to be a rather straightforward case, hence the stewards' very quick decision. But Binotto was left furious and questioned why the punishment had been handed down so quickly when there have been plenty of recent examples of significant delays while evidence is considered.
Speaking to Sky Italy, the irate team principal said: "How fast FIA took the decision to sanction Leclerc, it is ridiculous and unacceptable. Last race it took them an infinite number of laps to take a nonsense decision. We will protest in the appropriate offices."
Any such protest will almost certainly fall upon deaf ears. Leclerc's penalty looked to be a fair one given how aggressively he was forced to defend his place and recent precedents set by similar infringements of the rules. "Although car 16 [Leclerc] did not gain a position by going off track, it was still deemed to have gained a lasting advantage," the stewards said in a statement.
"This determination takes into account the numerous driver briefings where the race directors advised that an 'advantage' would be considered as having been gained if you go off track and return in the same position whilst defending. There have been a number of precedents this year in particular Zhou Guanyu in Saudi Arabia and Fernando Alonso in Miami."
The awarding of the penalty shortly after the race, along with a lack of clarity over whether or not full points would be awarded, led to plenty of confusion over whether or not Verstappen had become champion. Even the Dutchman himself wasn't certain, as he had to ask: "Are you sure?" after being told he was champion.
