Chaos on the streets of Monte Carlo

The 2026 Monaco Grand Prix was an absolute nightmare for the stewards, with a 78-lap marathon that turned into a masterclass in how to accumulate penalties. While Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli cruised to his fifth win of the season, describing his day as “incredible,” the rest of the pack found themselves in a recurring battle with the rulebook.

It was a particularly brutal day for Sergio Perez. The Cadillac driver started his afternoon with a drive-through penalty for being out of position on the grid, and after fighting his way to a P10 finish, a 10-second penalty for a restart infringement dropped him all the way back to P15. He also walked away with a reprimand for a botched practice start. George Russell, representing Mercedes, saw his P6 start dissolve into a P12 finish after failing to correctly serve a five-second penalty for pit lane speeding, resulting in a drive-through penalty.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly is undoubtedly the most frustrated man in the paddock; he crossed the line in P3 only to be dumped to P7 by two separate five-second penalties for pit lane speeding. Alpine has already requested a Right of Review from the FIA. Carlos Sainz of Williams was caught in the crossfire when Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg was hit with a 10-second penalty for tagging him at the hairpin, while elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton managed to hold onto P2 for Ferrari despite his own five-second pit speeding penalty.

Finally, the list of speeders continued with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who took a five-second penalty but still salvaged fourth, and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, who finished P14 after serving a similar five-second penalty. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin race ended in the barriers on lap 60, capping off a difficult day where he had already served a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.