"It is what it is": Lewis Hamilton breaks silence on his five-place grid penalty

Ferrari's star driver, Lewis Hamilton, has shared his opinion on the five-place grid penalty that he has received for this week's 2025 Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit. He received the penalty for failing to slow down during pre-race reconnaissance laps in Zandvoort. He has expressed surprise at the decision.

During last week's Dutch Grand Prix race weekend (Zandvoort), the Race Director had made it clear that the last corner, banked before the pit lane/star-finish straight, would have double yellow flags waved because of the nature of the track. This was done to ensure the safety of people in the pit lane.

In line with this, the drivers were required to significantly reduce their speed, but Hamilton failed to do so (a 20kmph reduction was deemed not significant) during the pre-race reconnaissance laps. As a result, he has a five-place grid penalty that will come into effect after Saturday's qualifying.

With the on-track action at Autodromo Nazionale Monza slated to kick off from tomorrow, Lewis Hamilton gave his take on his 'surprising' 5-place grid penalty:

"I was surprised when I heard about the penalty, but it is what it is. I have to live with it.”

La Gazzetta Ferrari

@GazzettaFerrari

🚨 | Lewis Hamilton on his 5-place grid penalty for not slowing under double yellow flags: “I was surprised when I heard about the penalty, but it is what it is. I have to live with it.”

Lewis Hamilton secured a DNF in the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix after crashing into the barriers at the Zandvoort racing circuit. His Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc also did not have the best of outings, as he also came away with a DNF. The latter's outing was cut short following a collision with Mercedes driver Andre Kimi Antonelli's car.

FIA steward's explanation on Lewis Hamilton's 5-place grid penalty

While Lewis Hamilton has grudgingly accepted the five-place grid drop for the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, the FIA stewards released an in-depth explanation regarding that a few days ago. The statement read, via F1:

"The regulations require that any driver passing through a double waved yellow flag marshalling sector ‘reduce speed significantly. We looked through the available telemetry within the FIA system. We also requested the team to provide us with their telemetry data. All of this took some time and this decision was delayed as a result."

A specific section of the report further added:

"The penalty guidelines for such an infringement would ordinarily attract a penalty of 10 grid positions at the next race. However, given that the driver had made an attempt to reduce his speed and to brake earlier, we took that into account as mitigating circumstances and imposed a five grid place penalty."

Lewis Hamilton has not had the best of times driving the Ferrari SF-25 in the 2025 F1 season. After the first 15 rounds, he is in sixth place in the drivers' standings and has yet to score a podium finish with the team.