Explained: Why so many F1 drivers broke Monaco pit lane speed limit

A spate of pit lane speeding penalties were handed out to Formula 1 drivers during the Monaco Grand Prix.

In total, five drivers including Lewis Hamilton and title contender George Russell were awarded five-second time penalties for breaking the speed limit in the pit lane during Sunday’s race in Monte Carlo.

Pierre Gasly was twice penalised for two separate infringements, while Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri were the other drivers to fall foul of the rules. Alpine has since asked the FIA to review the penalties Gasly received. 

The problem was also seen throughout practice, with Russell, championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso all hit with penalties in the form of fines for speeding in the pit lane.

Documents from F1 governing body the FIA revealed that every infringement during the race was less than one kilometre per hour over the 60kph speed limit imposed for Monaco. This is 20kph slower than the standard 80kph limit used at most F1 circuits. 

The FIA uses transponders and electronic timing loops across a series of timing beams in the pit lane to measure the speed of a car. These calculate the time it takes for a car to pass between the loops.

The unusually-high amount of penalties raised eyebrows and prompted plenty of questions among fans and experts watching.

The theory, although not confirmed by the FIA, is that the penalties related to cutting the line around the Cadillac area.

As F1’s newest and 11th team, Cadillac is positioned at the end of the pit lane. In Monaco, this space is more open than previous years. This seemingly encouraged drivers to cut the white line.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton finished second after serving his penalty during a pit stop under a late-race safety car.

“I wasn't speeding,” he said in the post-race press conference. “I think it's just the way the pitlane is. 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.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also suggested the penalties were linked to the line taken in the pit lane.

“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,” Stella explained.

“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.”

Explaining the bizarre situation during Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the race, Bernie Collins said: "Think of when you’re on a motorway, and you’ve got the gantries.

"How they do it is they look at what time you were in each position? The time between them is how they work out your average speed through that zone.

"So, I think by cutting the corner more in the race because they’re pushing it harder than they were in practice, in that zone they have been over the 60kph limit.

"It’s an unusual pit entry here because you’re coming from a slower speed into the limited. Normally you’re coming from a higher speed down to the limiter. So, sometimes that can catch drivers out."