The story behind Monaco’s flurry of pitlane speeding penalties

Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix left several teams and drivers scratching their heads after a remarkable cluster of pitlane speeding penalties – all for margins so small they barely registered on the timing screens.

Post-race FIA documents showed every infringement was less than 1 km/h over the limit. In the cases of Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, the excess was a mere 0.1 km/h.

The unusual pattern immediately raised questions about whether there had been a technical issue with the timing system. After reviewing its equipment and timing loops, however, the FIA found no faults.

Instead, attention has turned to a unique characteristic of Monaco’s pit entry.

A matter of inches, not speed

At Monaco, drivers can slightly straighten the approach into the pitlane by staying to the right through a kink at the entrance. The manoeuvre effectively shortens the distance travelled before joining the fast lane.

According to the FIA, pitlane timing begins the instant the first wheel enters the fast lane. For drivers taking the tighter line, that means the front-left wheel triggers the measurement point earlier than expected.

Because pitlane speed is calculated as an average using embedded timing loops and the FIA transponder system, even a tiny reduction in distance can produce an apparent speed gain. Across the measured sectors, that effect translated into infringements of only tenths of a kilometre per hour.

The governing body also revealed that teams had been warned before the race about the issue and were advised to use the wider entry line.

Hamilton adamant ‘I wasn't speeding’

Lewis Hamilton, who received a five-second penalty but still finished second in the race, believes the entry line was the root cause.

“Yeah, I wasn't speeding. I think it's just the way the pitlane is,” he explained.

“I've done this pitlane for years. It's not like I came in and didn't press the button or something like that. Pitlane limiter is on immediately.

“I think it's just the line that you take, which is the same line we've all taken for years where you come in, you kind of cut part of the white line, head down, went out. And I was shocked to hear that I was speeding because I wasn't actually above the speed.

“I think it's the distance and something that we really need to look into because I heard lots of people got that today and they probably weren't really speeding.”

Teams reach the same conclusion

McLaren arrived at a similar explanation after Piastri’s penalty.

“We think it might come from shortcutting too much. I think that's the hypothesis at the moment, so then we told Oscar to just avoid that,” team principal Andrea Stella said.

“But initially it wasn't understood. We know that sometimes when you shortcut too much this may induce you to be measured in excess of the speed limiter. But we don't know more at the moment.”

• Read also: Alpine launches Right of Review after Gasly loses Monaco podium

The most devastated by this geometric trap was Pierre Gasly. The Alpine driver crossed the checkered flag in what he thought was a magnificent 3rd place, only to discover a pair of 5-second speeding penalties had dropped him down to 7th, robbing him of a Monaco podium.

Alpine has subsequently lodged a request for a right of review after Gasly argued he had been “robbed” of a top-three finish, ensuring that the Principality’s most controversial corner this year may have been the one leading into the pits.

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