Charles Leclerc’s five-second penalty at the Mexico City Grand Prix has divided Formula 1 fans. Some believe that it was far too lenient while others insist that he should not have been punished at all.

The Ferrari driver went around the outside of polesitter and team-mate Lewis Hamilton at Turn 4 on the opening lap. Both drivers went off the track but it was Leclerc who came out ahead of the pack after he was forced to cut the corner.

After deliberation, the stewards handed the Monegasque a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but by that point Leclerc had already built a gap in clean air - important at the Mexican race.

Hamilton was mightily unimpressed as he said down the radio: “The problem with the 5 second penalty is he’s got clean air. He doesn’t have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the position back."

Max Verstappen, who had moved up to second, was highly amused: “Ha! I thought all the new penalties were 10?”

Many fans sided with the two world champions.

“I think that’s a very soft penalty for Leclerc. That means you might as well drive off the track and gain the advantage if you can gallop off into the lead while the FIA take 12 laps to make their mind up,” wrote one user on X.

Another posted: “5 second penalty for Leclerc. Deserved more.”

“Five second penalty is not enough when Leclerc is already 3.5 sec over Verstappen and 5+ over Hamilton, and has benefit of clear air which is huge here,” a third added.

Others thought Leclerc had been clever. Broadcaster Tom Gaymor wrote: “Charles knew exactly what he was doing there, braked to be ahead at the apex not to make the corner, clearly gains an advantage and let’s stewards argue it out, has clean air and has not lost a place, worst case scenario 5 secs pen!”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images

But plenty of fans felt that Leclerc had been hard done by, aiming their frustration at Hamilton instead.

“5S PENALTY IS A JOKE, PENALISE HAMILTON AS WELL BECAUSE IF HE DOESN’T PUSH HIM OUT HE ACTUALLY MAKES THE CORNER,” one fan wrote.

A post from fan account CL16 inside, liked more than 500 times, simply read: “5 SECOND TIME PENALTY FOR CHARLES. THE JOKE.”

F1 journalist Thomas Maher also felt that neither driver deserved a sanction.

“I don’t think either Ferrari driver merits any slap from the stewards for that. Hamilton tried to brazen it out, but Leclerc was on the outside and can’t disappear. Charles couldn’t be bullied out of his move around the outside,” he wrote.

Finally, a more balanced view: “Very aggressive attack by Leclerc, very aggressive defense by Lewis,” another user said.