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The FIA stewards have dished out a three-place grid penalty to Lewis Hamilton for his turn 3 impeding incident with Max Verstappen during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday (May 24), despite noting that the driver only impeded his rival as a result of incorrect information being fed to him by his team. The stewards further added that a team error does not amount to a mitigating factor when making such a decision.
Hamilton moved onto the racing line around turn 3 of the Monaco circuit, with a fast-approaching Verstappen behind him on a quick lap, who had to take avoiding action as a result. This incident was immediately noted by the stewards, and Hamilton has now been given a three-place grid drop after the conclusion of a post-session investigation.
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Interestingly, the FIA stewards have mentioned in their report that they recognize the incident occurred only due to an error by the Ferrari team, rather than Hamilton. The driver was wrongly told by his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, that Verstappen was on a slow lap behind him, resulting in Hamilton accelerating and moving onto the racing line.
However, the stewards have noted that a team error does not amount to a mitigating circumstance in such a case. This simply means that the error by Hamilton's race engineer cannot be an excuse for impeding, and does not reduce the penalty for the driver.
The stewards also took into account Verstappen's racing line on previous push laps to determine that Hamilton did in fact enter the Red Bull driver's preferred racing line into the corner in question. The Ferrari driver was hence given a three-place grid drop, which is 'the standard penalty' for an impeding infringement.
The 7x world champion will now have to drop to P7 on the grid for Sunday's race (May 25), after having finished fourth during qualifying. This has directly benefited Verstappen, who had qualified in P5, but will now move up a place on Sunday.
Max Verstappen rids Lewis Hamilton of any blame for impeding incident during Monaco GP qualifying
Max Verstappen also recognized that Lewis Hamilton was not at fault for impeding him during the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, and claimed that the Briton's team was to blame instead. The Dutch driver will now start on the second row of the grid for Sunday's race, alongside world championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Speaking to the media after the qualifying session on Saturday, Verstappen mentioned that he understood that Hamilton's team had made an error immediately after the incident occurred.
"I saw it immediately that the team told him I was on a slow lap when I was on a fast lap. It’s not Lewis Hamilton's fault. I already spoke to him about it. It’s the team’s mistake," said Verstappen via @fiagirly on X.
Lewis Hamilton could have been eyeing a potential podium finish during Sunday's Grand Prix after qualifying in fourth, but will now be starting from P7. Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, and Hamilton's former teammate, Fernando Alonso, have all moved infront of him as a result of the 40-year-old's grid drop.
