Lewis Hamilton was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding rival Max Verstappen during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying.
The incident unfolded during Q1, the first segment of qualifying, as drivers jostled for position on the narrow, unforgiving streets of Monte Carlo.
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari was seen moving slowly at the entry to the Massenet corner – a critical section where maintaining momentum is essential. At that moment reigning Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen was beginning a hot lap and rapidly closing in on the Ferrari driver.
However, the situation escalated as Verstappen was forced to change his racing line to avoid a collision, ultimately aborting his flying lap.
The Dutchman’s frustration was palpable as he vented over team radio while Hamilton, too, expressed immediate dissatisfaction with the information relayed to him by his race engineer.
Both drivers along with their respective team representatives were summoned to the stewards’ office after Monaco Grand Prix qualifying for a thorough review of the incident.
The stewards’ investigation centered on the sequence of radio communications between Hamilton and his Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami.
They also meticulously reviewed telemetry data and onboard footage, comparing Verstappen’s previous laps to the one in question and concluded that Hamilton had indeed impeded him by taking the racing line at a critical moment.
F1 Monaco GP Qualifying Results 2025, starting grid after penalties
In their official statement, the FIA stewards acknowledged that the primary cause of the incident was the inaccurate information provided to Hamilton by his team.
The statement read: “Car 44 [Hamilton] was on a slow lap and off the racing line as he was approaching Turn 2. Car 1 [Verstappen] was approaching Car 44 on a push lap.
“The team first informed the driver of Car 44 that Car 1 was on a fast lap. Then they sent another message saying that Car 1 was ‘slowing down’ when in fact Car 1 was always on a push lap and was not ‘slowing down’ as suggested by the team.
“This resulted in Car 44 speeding up and moving into the racing line of Car 1 entering Turn 3. Car 1 had to react to Car 44 appearing to move into the racing line. This meant that Car 1 had to move off the usual racing line and the push lap had to be aborted by Car 1.
“We carefully examined the racing line taken by Car 1 in previous laps at the same area and determined that Car 44 did in fact enter the racing line that Car 1 used in previous push laps. This put it beyond doubt that Car 1 was impeded.
“The driver of Car 44 expressed his displeasure at the incorrect message from the team immediately after the incident. During the hearing, the fact of the team’s incorrect message leading to the incident was accepted by the driver of Car 44.
“As with previous incidents of this nature where a driver has received inaccurate or incomplete information resulting in a car impeding another, the fact that the radio message was the cause of the impeding does not amount to a mitigating factor.
“We therefore impose the standard penalty of a drop of three grid positions.”
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As a result, Lewis Hamilton who had initially qualified fourth will now start Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix from seventh.
The Monaco grid penalty has a ripple effect on Sunday’s starting order, promoting Verstappen to fourth with Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso also moving up a place each.
The revised starting order is particularly significant at the Monte-Carlo where overtaking is notoriously difficult and track position is paramount.
