Lewis Hamilton Monaco GP grid drop confirmed after Verstappen near miss

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were summoned to the stewards following Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, with Hamilton receiving a three-place grid penalty.

That comes in relation to an impeding incident which occurred between the two during Q1, the FIA taking action against Hamilton after he found a fast-moving Verstappen come up behind him through Massenet.

FIA issue Lewis Hamilton Monaco GP grid drop

Both Hamilton and Verstappen featured in the battle for pole position in Monaco – an honour which ultimately went to McLaren’s Lando Norris – but the two found themselves involved in a near miss during the opening segment of qualifying.

With Verstappen on a flying lap and Hamilton moving slowly on the inside of Massenet, Verstappen lifted off and launched an X-rated rant over team radio, firmly believing he had been impeded by Hamilton.

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The stewards announced a post-qualifying investigation with both Hamilton and Verstappen summoned to their office, after which they decided to impose a three-place grid drop on Hamilton, despite accepting that the blame laid with Ferrari.

Hamilton had originally been told by race engineer Riccardo Adami that Verstappen was slowing down, rather than being on a push lap, causing Hamilton to drift back towards the racing line and Verstappen.

Hamilton would claim a provisional P4 on the grid with Verstappen P5, but the action of the FIA stewards means Hamilton drops to P7, and Verstappen inherits P4.

The verdict reads: “The stewards heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.

“Car 44 was on a slow lap and off the racing line as he was approaching Turn 2. Car 1 was approaching Car 44 on a push lap.

“The team first informed the driver of Car 44 that Car 1 was on a fast lap. Then they sent another message saying that Car 1 was ‘slowing down’ when in fact Car 1 was always on a push lap and was not ‘slowing down’ as suggested by the team.

“This resulted in Car 44 speeding up and moving into the racing line of Car 1 entering Turn 3.

“Car 1 had to react to Car 44 appearing to move into the racing line. This meant that Car 1 had to move off the usual racing line and the push lap had to be aborted by Car
1.

“We carefully examined the racing line taken by Car 1 in previous laps at the same area and determined that Car 44 did in fact enter the racing line that Car 1 used in previous push laps. This put it beyond doubt that Car 1 was impeded.

“The driver of Car 44 expressed his displeasure at the incorrect message from the team immediately after the incident.

“During the hearing, the fact of the team’s incorrect message leading to the incident was accepted by the driver of Car 44.

“As with previous incidents of this nature where a driver has received inaccurate or incomplete information resulting in a car impeding another, the fact that the radio message was the cause of the impeding does not amount to a mitigating factor. We therefore impose the standard penalty of a drop of 3 grid positions.”

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