Martin Brundle says an F1 driver will be very upset after the Monaco GP crash, even though it wasn’t their fault.
Former Formula 1 star and top analyst Martin Brundle has shared his thoughts on the pit lane penalties from Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. In his latest column for Sky Sports F1, Brundle called the penalties “necessarily brutal.”
Drivers like Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, and Franco Colapinto were all punished for going just slightly over the 60 km/h pit lane speed limit in Monaco. Many fans felt the penalties were a bit harsh since four of the drivers went over by only 0.1 km/h but were still penalized.
Mercedes’ rising star Kimi Antonelli won the race, becoming the 14th driver ever to win five Grands Prix in a row. The young Italian clinched victory from pole position, finishing ahead of Hamilton in the Ferrari and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who earned his second career podium.
Brundle explained, “Because Monaco’s pit lane is so tight, the speed limit drops from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. Even if drivers were going 60.1 km/h, they got penalized. Rules are rules, because if 60.1 km/h is okay, then 60.2 km/h would be fine too. Just like when a car is half a kilo underweight, in F1 the rules have to be strict.”
Russell suffered the most from his small mistake, with the penalty causing more delays and pushing him down the order. Hamilton and Piastri managed to handle their penalties without too much trouble. Gasly, however, was hit with two speeding penalties totaling 10 seconds, which dropped him from third to seventh place.
Alpine is asking for a review of the race result, hoping Gasly’s penalties might be overturned in a second hearing.
Brundle added, “It was even harder for Pierre Gasly, who was upset to get two penalties so close together for going 60.1 and 60.4 km/h. He finished third on the track, which would normally mean a spot on the royal podium, but the 10 seconds of penalties knocked him back to seventh. The team wants a review, but I doubt it will change much.”
Brundle also praised Antonelli’s impressive win. While Russell missed out on points, Piastri finished fourth. Hamilton moved ahead of Russell in the driver standings, but Antonelli now leads by a huge 66 points.