FIA decides on Kimi Antonelli’s punishment after Lewis Hamilton’s Hungarian GP grid penalty
Lewis Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty before the Hungarian Grand Prix, and now his championship rival, Kimi Antonelli, has been given the same penalty.
Hamilton had qualified second, just behind his fellow Brit and current world champion, Lando Norris. He was investigated because he got in the way of Oscar Piastri near the end of qualifying, which affected Piastri’s lap time. After the session, Hamilton explained that he didn’t realize Piastri was so close behind him as he thought everyone else had finished their laps. He said it wasn’t intentional, but he still got a three-place penalty, which could make it harder for him to win the Hungarian Grand Prix for the ninth time.
Meanwhile, Kimi Antonelli and a Mercedes team member also had to speak with the FIA after qualifying. Antonelli was investigated for not slowing down enough under yellow flags during qualifying and received the same three-place grid penalty. Another investigation about not following the Race Director’s instructions led to Antonelli only getting a warning.
Antonelli had qualified fourth, but now he will start further back because of the penalty. The FIA explained that while Antonelli did slow down a little when he saw the yellow flags, the reduction in speed was very short, and at one point his car was actually going faster than on a previous lap. They noted that his speed was only slightly lower overall, so they gave him a lighter penalty than usual, considering he had little time and space to react.