Kimi Antonelli just pulled off an incredible comeback drive in Hungary, but that third-place trophy comes with a sting. The FIA dropped a penalty point on the young Mercedes star following a controversial yellow-flag moment during qualifying.
After a rough Saturday that saw him handed a three-place grid drop, Antonelli fought through the field from seventh to finish third behind race winner Lando Norris. That gritty performance also helped him stretch his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to a massive 50 points—essentially two race wins—just as Formula 1 heads into the summer break.
But the 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶 didn’t end on Sunday. The FIA stewards ruled that Antonelli failed to slow down enough under yellow flags triggered by Max Verstappen’s spin at the final corner in qualifying. Telemetry showed he lifted off the throttle earlier than his previous push lap, but his speed when passing the incident site was actually 3 km/h faster.
The mini sector time was only 0. 03 seconds slower—less than a 1% reduction.
The stewards acknowledged he did slow down, but called it “insufficient and unsustained.” They dropped the usual five-place grid penalty to three in mitigation, but still added a penalty point to his license.
So where does that leave Antonelli? This is his first penalty point of the season, but it brings his total to four—tying him with Haas’s Ollie Bearman for the most on the grid. However, three of those points are set to expire soon after the break: two vanish on August 31 and another on September 7.
For context, drivers hit 12 points within a year face an automatic one-race ban. Antonelli is nowhere near that danger zone right now, but every point counts in a title fight this tight.
With Hamilton and Verstappen breathing down his neck, can Antonelli keep his cool and avoid any more slip-ups when the racing resumes?
