Kimi Antonelli has been issued a three-place grid penalty for the Hungarian Grand Prix following a rule violation during Saturday’s Qualifying session. The penalty was imposed after an investigation found that Antonelli failed to slow sufficiently for yellow flags. These flags were deployed when Max Verstappen spun in Q3.
The stewards determined that Antonelli breached Appendix H, Article 2.5.5 b) of the International Sporting Code and B1.8.4a of the FIA F1 Regulations. This decision places Antonelli further down the grid for Sunday’s race.
Stewards’ Decision and Impact
Antonelli, who had initially qualified fourth fastest, was set to gain a position on the grid due to a separate three-place penalty handed to Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton’s penalty was for impeding McLaren rival Oscar Piastri at the end of Q3. However, with his own penalty, Antonelli will now start the race from P7.
The stewards’ document detailed their findings, stating that Antonelli lifted off the throttle earlier than his previous push lap upon seeing the yellow flag and light panel, which was verified by telemetry. Despite this, the reduction in speed was brief. The car’s speed when passing the incident involving Verstappen was slightly higher than during his previous push lap.
The mini sector time was only 0.03 seconds slower than his best time for that mini sector. Although he was 14 km/h slower entering the yellow flag sector due to lifting 16 metres earlier, he was 3 km/h faster when passing the incident site because of less brake application into the corner. FIA representatives noted that the speed reduction in the mini sector was less than 1%.
The stewards considered this incident distinct from others that have resulted in no further action, as there was no significant speed delta through the mini sector compared to the driver’s previous fastest time under similar circumstances. While the recommended penalty for this offence is a drop of five grid positions, the stewards applied a lower penalty due to Antonelli making some speed reduction, even if it was deemed insufficient and unsustained. They also noted that the driver had limited time and distance to react.
In a separate incident during Qualifying, Antonelli received a warning from the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly on an in-lap.
Revised Starting Grid
The penalties for both Hamilton and Antonelli have altered the starting order for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The revised grid sees:
- Lando Norris (McLaren) in 1st position
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in 2nd position
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) in 3rd position
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in 4th position
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) in 5th position
- George Russell (Mercedes) in 6th position
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) in 7th position
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) in 8th position
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) in 9th position
- Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) in 10th position
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) in 11th position
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) in 12th position
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine) in 13th position
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) in 14th position
- Esteban Ocon (Haas) in 15th position
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) in 16th position
- Ollie Bearman (Haas) in 17th position
- Carlos Sainz (Williams) in 18th position
- Alex Albon (Williams) in 19th position
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) in 20th position
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) in 21st position
- Sergio Perez (Cadillac) in 22nd position
Antonelli’s grid drop adds to the challenge as he aims to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings from his P7 start.
Source: formula1.com
