Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix, ruining his already slim chances of winning the race.
Hamilton was running up in second place when he came into the pits to change his tyres, hoping to action an undercut on race leader Kimi Antonelli.
However, Hamilton came into the pits with too much speed, and was placed under investigation for exceeding the pit lane speed limit.
The FIA race stewards confirmed just seconds later that Hamilton had indeed been handed a five-second time penalty for the incident, which would have been added to his time at the end of the race had he not come into the pits and served it under the safety car on lap 61.
‘Unusual frequency’ of speeding incidents
Just a few laps after Hamilton’s penalty was announced, championship contender Russell was also slammed with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, in what was yet another blow to his championship chances.
Russell came into the weekend 43 points behind team-mate and championship rival Kimi Antonelli, after he had won the last four grands prix consecutively.
And Brit Russell suffered a dismal qualifying, being down in sixth while his rival claimed pole position.
The penalty will hamper him even more, while another driver was also given a penalty for a very similar infringement to Hamilton and Russell.
Franco Colapinto was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, leading Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle to hint that the usual pit line might have changed positions, bemoaning the ‘unusual frequency’ of the speeding notices.
Colapinto’s Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly was also handed a five-second time penalty later in the race for the same infringement, as was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
