Lewis Hamilton has been slapped with an early penalty at the British Grand Prix after Formula 1 stewards determined he had made a false start at Silverstone.
The seven-time world champion was at the front of the pack when the decision was made official, and Hamilton was given a five-second time penalty seven laps into his home race.
The sanction changed Ferrari's race strategy as Hamilton tried to limit the damage but still fight for the top spots.
FIA Explains Why Lewis Hamilton Got a Penalty
The FIA confirmed that Hamilton was penalised for moving before the start signal. The Ferrari driver started 3rd behind teammate Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli at Silverstone but was penalised for his start.
During the race, race control sent out the following message:
The incident happened at the start of the race, where the stewards ruled that Hamilton had moved slightly ahead of the lights. According to Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, the default penalty for a false start is a five-second time penalty, which can be applied at the next pit stop or at the end of the race if no stop is made.
In today's modern Formula 1, false starts are relatively rare, and drivers have to use very sensitive clutch systems and reactions to get away from the lights as much as they can.
FIA Punished Gasly, Perez, and Stroll at British GP
Before the race even began, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, and Lance Stroll were handed different penalties for incidents leading up to the race. Perez was handed a penalty during the sprint, whereas Gasly was handed a penalty at the British GP race.
Stroll faces a 10-place grid penalty to be served at the next race, wherever applicable.
Wan Mikhail Roslan/NurPhoto via Getty Images
However, Hamilton faced a huge blow because track position can be a major factor at Silverstone.
Now it's up to Ferrari to make Hamilton's race plan work to catch up for as much time as possible, while the British legend aims to bounce back from the blow in front of his home fans.