George Russell has been handed a drive-through penalty during the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix for failing to serve his earlier time penalty correctly, compounding what has become a disastrous afternoon for the Mercedes driver.
The original five-second penalty was handed to Russell for speeding in the pit lane, joining former Mercedes teammate-turned-Ferrari rival Lewis Hamilton, who received an identical punishment minutes earlier. However, Russell then failed to serve the time penalty correctly, triggering a second punishment in the form of a drive-through, deepening his afternoon’s misery on the streets of Monte Carlo.
Photo by Sam Bloxham/LAT Images
A drive-through penalty requires the driver to pass through the pit lane without stopping, costing valuable time and track position at one of the calendar’s most unforgiving circuits for overtaking.
The pit lane speed limit infringement is one of the more straightforward offences in Formula 1. Teams and drivers are fully aware of the limit, making the back-to-back penalties all the more damaging on a day when Russell had genuine top-five ambitions before the wheels came off.
Monaco Grand Prix Chaos Continues
Monaco has already claimed Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Oliver Bearman, and Lando Norris as retirements. At the same time, Sergio Perez has effectively had his afternoon ruined by the early drive-through penalty, currently sitting in 17th. It is shaping up to be one of the most incident-packed Monaco Grands Prix in recent memory.
At lap 48 of 78, Kimi Antonelli continued to lead for Mercedes. Hamilton sat 19.8 seconds behind in second, though his five-second penalty was not factored into the live classification yet. Leclerc was third, 7.8 seconds further back. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri moved up to fourth for McLaren, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes despite his own pending penalty. Isack Hadjar held sixth for Red Bull, with Pierre Gasly seventh for Alpine.
The race has now been red-flagged on lap 68 of 78, with the session stopped after Charles Leclerc hit the wall. At the time of the stoppage, Kimi Antonelli led for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton second and Isack Hadjar third for Red Bull. Russell sits fourth, with Pierre Gasly fifth for Alpine.