Every penalty served at the Monaco Grand Prix

The 2026 Monaco Grand Prix was certainly more exciting than expected. However, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the flurry of penalties issued throughout the race. From being out of position at the race start, to speeding in the pitlane, several drivers served time penalties in Monte Carlo.

Credit: TWJB Photography / BWT Alpine Formula One Team

In amongst the crashes, Safety Cars and a red flag, there was an unusual amount of penalties applied to drivers throughout the race. Other than Sergio Pérez being out of position at the race start and Nico Hülkenberg causing a collision, every other driver was penalised for speeding in the pitlane.

Most of the drivers were penalised for speeding in the pitlane. Considering there were so many drivers caught out by this, there was clearly a bigger issue at hand.

In Monaco, the pitlane is limited to 37.28 mph (60kph). All drivers penalised for this were going under 0.3mph (0.5 kph) over the speed limit.

Here’s each driver who was penalised at the Monaco Grand Prix and why they received it.

Sergio Pérez - Out of position at race start

The first driver to receive a penalty was Pérez for being out of position at the race start. The Mexican returned to Formula One after a season away to join the newest team on the track, Cadillac. The American outfit have had a difficult journey getting to grips with the sport this season and Perez was in contention for picking up the first point for the team.

However, following the race, the incident was investigated further and Perez received a 10-second time penalty which dropped him from his 10th place finish to 15th. This made him the final finisher of the day. 

It was an unfortunate result for Perez and the team, especially after Valtteri Bottas’ retirement from the race. However, today proved it is possible for Cadillac to fight for points and it should only motivate them to push further going ahead.

Lewis Hamilton - Speeding in the pitlane

Hamilton enjoyed second place on the podium in Monaco despite his penalty | Credit: Formula One

Lewis Hamilton was the first to be handed a penalty for speeding in the pitlane, and as a result, he received a five-second time penalty.

Luckily for the Ferrari driver, everything turned out fine for his result when he served his five seconds in his second stop without losing any positions and continued to defend his place until the chequered flag.

The Briton went on to finish second in the race and is now second in the championship standings. There is still a large gap between himself and Kimi Antonelli, with Antonelli leading the drivers’ standings by 66 points. It’ll be a difficult task for the seven-time World Champion to close the gap, but it’s a good sight to see him back in the fight after an unsteady couple of years.

George Russell - Speeding in the pitlane

Russell initially received a five-second penalty for speeding in pit lane, However, when piting during the Safety Car, it appeared that Russell had not served this penalty in the stop. Due to this, he received a five-second drive-through penalty, dropping him to 12th after his sixth place start.

It had been a difficult weekend for Russell, especially after the way his almost-perfect Canada Grand Prix weekend resulted in a DNF. In Monte Carlo, the Briton had a difficult qualifying performance and was unable to get to grips with the car. Hopefully for Russell, he can get back to full confidence in the car before a challenge in Barcelona this coming weekend.

Pierre Gasly - Speeding in the pitlane

Not only did he get caught out during the race, but Gasly received a second speeding penalty when passing through the pitlane during the Safety Car.

This has since been the most controversial penalty of the weekend. Gasly passed the chequered flag in third place, expecting to have an incredible moment on the podium in Monte Carlo. However, he got shifted down to seventh following the 10 second penalty, resulting in heartbreak for the Frenchman.

Gasly is adamant that he was under the limit of 37mph (60kph) on both occasions, and after the race, Alpine submitted a right of review and will hope to appeal the result following the loss of the podium finish.

Oscar Piastri - Speeding in the pitlane

Piastri was caught speeding in the pitlane during the Safety Car | Credit: Formula One

Another driver penalised for pitlane speeding was Oscar Piastri. The Australian received a five-second time penalty, but was still able to bring home points in fourth place which is a positive result for the team after Lando Norris’ retirement.

McLaren’s season has been off to a rocky start. With reliability issues in the car, Norris and Piastri have a total of five DNF’s across the first six races. 

Franco Colapinto - Speeding in the pitlane

Similarly to his teammate Gasly, Franco Colapinto got caught out speeding in the pitlane during the safety car, resulting in a five-second time penalty.

Due to Colapinto’s penalty, the Argentinian lost his streak of points finishes and ended the race in 14th.

Nico Hülkenberg - Causing a collision

Following the 30-minute pause due to a red flag, the race got back underway with a standing start. Unfortunately, Hülkenberg received a 10-second time penalty for clipping Carlos Sainz at the hairpin, 

It’s bittersweet for Hülkenberg considering he was in contention to score some points on Sunday, but after serving his penalty, he got bumped down to 13th.

How did so many drivers get caught out?

Pérez was the last finishing driver of the day | Credit: Formula One

For the unusual amount of drivers who got caught speeding in the pitlane, there had to be a reason for it.

The theory is that it was due to drivers cutting the entry to the pitlane. In Monaco, the white line which indicates the start of the pitlane can be cut slightly, and due to Cadillac’s garage being at the end, some drivers may have cut the line too close to their garage as they were slowing down.

In the post-race press conference, Hamilton explained his thoughts on how it happened: “I think it's just the line that you take, which is the same line we've all taken for years where you come in, you kind of cut part of the white line, head down, went out. And I was shocked to hear that I was speeding because I wasn't actually above the speed.

“I think it's the distance and something that we really need to look into because I heard lots of people got that today and they probably weren't really speeding.”

Whether the penalties were a driver error or a quirk in the Monaco pitlane layout, or even an issue with how the speed it monitored, the number of incidents made it one of the most talked about aspects of the eventful weekend.

While the Monaco Grand Prix served more drama than anticipated, it is no doubt that debate around these penalties will continue long after this past weekend. For some drivers, the consequences were minor, but for others, they drastically changed the outcome of their race.