The fine margins of the Monaco pit lane

It is absolutely wild that in Monaco, five of the six in-race speeding transgressions were measured at exactly 60.1kph. There is simply no room for error when the FIA’s electronic timing loops are watching. While the standard Formula 1 pit lane limit is 80kph, the tight, congested nature of the Monte Carlo pit lane—made even tighter in 2026 by the new Cadillac team—forces a reduction to 60kph. It is a brutal test of precision where a slight, aggressive cut through the pit entry or exit kinks can trick the system into recording a breach.

The consequences are immediate and race-altering. During the Monaco Grand Prix, we saw Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri forced to sit stationary for five seconds during their stops to serve their penalties. Pierre Gasly, having no further stops to make, saw his five-second penalty applied to his total race time at the finish. Meanwhile, Mercedes endured a total disaster with George Russell; because the team did not wait the full five seconds before working on his car, his initial penalty was upgraded to a drive-through, completely changing his afternoon.