Haas driver Rafael Camara has received a reprimand from the FIA stewards following an incident during Free Practice 2 (FP2) for the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix. The penalty was issued after Camara impeded Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
During the second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver and newly crowned F1 2026 world champion Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time. Antonelli recorded a lap of 1:10.234, leading the session.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull secured the second-fastest time, 0.150 seconds behind Antonelli. George Russell, Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate, completed the top three, finishing 0.280 seconds off the pace. The session saw competitive times across the field.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both driving for McLaren, finished fourth and fifth respectively. Lewis Hamilton placed sixth for Ferrari, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, who was seventh. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) rounded out the top ten.
The incident involving Camara and Leclerc occurred at Turn 15, the final left-hand kink leading onto the main straight. Leclerc encountered a slow-moving Camara, forcing the Ferrari driver to take evasive action onto the painted run-off area.
Leclerc communicated his frustration over team radio following the near-miss. The FIA stewards initiated a post-session investigation into the matter, reviewing video, team radio, and in-car evidence.
The stewards’ verdict, documented as FIA Document 34, confirmed that Camara, driving Car 51, had been warned multiple times by his team about the approaching Car 16 (Leclerc) on a fast lap. Despite these warnings, Camara was observed weaving and moving onto the racing line.
The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 51 (Rafael Camara), team representatives and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 51 was warned multiple times that Car 16 (LEC) was arriving on a fast lap. Yet, Car 51 was weaving and moving well into the racing line. Car 16 had to take evasive action to avoid a collision by moving to the right, with a significant amount of the car off the track. The situation that was created was clearly dangerous and Car 51 should have taken more care to avoid impeding Car 16. While the typical penalty for impeding in a Free Practice session is a warning, in this instance, we are of the view that a reprimand is warranted.
The stewards, including Silvia Bellot and Garry Connelly, deemed the situation created by Camara to be clearly dangerous. They concluded that a reprimand was warranted, rather than a standard warning, due to the severity of the impeding.
Camara, a 21-year-old Ferrari junior driver from Recife, Brazil, is making his Formula 1 debut at his home Grand Prix. He was classified 16th in the FP2 session.
His debut with Haas comes after the team parted ways with Esteban Ocon following the Mexican Grand Prix. Ocon was withdrawn by Haas after Friday practice in Mexico due to performance-related issues and a breakdown in team relations.
Ryo Hirakawa replaced Ocon for the remainder of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, scoring a point for tenth place. Haas announced on October 15, 2026, that Camara would make his full debut in Brazil.
Camara was signed by Haas for the 2027 Formula 1 season last month. He won the F3 title in 2025 and currently leads the F2 feeder championship by 20 points over Victor Martins, with two rounds remaining in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
