The Monaco Grand Prix stewards were incredibly busy, handed down a massive wave of penalties that completely reshaped the final classification, stripped a team of its maiden F1 points finish, and sparked plenty of post-race drama.
The heavy-hitting penalties from Monaco can be broken down by how they shook out.
The Grid Box & Restart Ingestions (Sergio Pérez)
Sergio Pérez had a nightmare tracking his starting positions, getting hit twice for starting-procedure errors:
- The Initial Grid Blunder: Because Gabriel Bortoleto had to start from the pit lane, his P16 slot was left empty. Pérez (who was supposed to line up in P18) mistakenly pulled right into Bortoleto’s vacant P16 box. He was handed a drive-through penalty early on for being out of position.
- The Restart Infringement: Later in the race, following the red flag restart, Pérez lined up with his front-right wheel completely outside of his designated starting box. This triggered a post-race 10-second time penalty for a false start. The penalty dropped him from a provisionally point-paying P10 all the way to P15, costing Cadillac what would have been their first-ever championship point.
- Note: He also picked up a formal reprimand before the race even started for performing a practice start in the wrong location during his reconnaissance lap.
The Pit-Lane Speeding Epidemic
Monaco saw a bizarre software and positioning issue where multiple drivers fell foul of the pit lane speed limit by the absolute narrowest of margins (often by just 0.1 km/h, likely due to effectively cutting the tight pit entry line).
- Pierre Gasly: Crossed the line in P3 but was slapped with two separate 5-second time penalties for speeding in the pit lane. The combined 10 seconds dropped him down to P7, costing him a podium. (Alpine has since requested a right of review over these pit penalties).
- Lewis Hamilton: Picked up a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, though he managed to build enough of a gap to hold onto his P2 finish behind Kimi Antonelli.
- George Russell: Caught speeding by a mere 0.1 km/h, earning an initial 5-second penalty. However, during a late-race double-stack pit stop under the Safety Car, Mercedes’ mechanics accidentally worked on his car immediately instead of holding it for the required 5 seconds. This procedural error automatically triggered a severe drive-through penalty, dropping Russell down to P12.
On-Track Contact & Infringements
- Nico Hülkenberg: Handed a late 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz at the Grand Hotel Hairpin following the lap 71 restart.
- Isack Hadjar: The Frenchman was placed under a post-race investigation for an alleged procedural infringement under the red flag. Ultimately, the stewards took no further action, allowing him to keep his P3 podium finish for Red Bull.
The post-race shuffling officially promoted Fernando Alonso into P10, handing the Aston Martin-Honda partnership its very first point of the season.
