Hamilton's Unforeseen Grid Drop Shakes Up Monaco Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari faces a three-place grid penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix due to an incident with Max Verstappen. The penalty, resulting from a misleading team message during qualifying, impacts Hamilton's starting position despite acknowledging it wasn't his fault.

Lewis Hamilton, driving for Ferrari, will start the Monaco Grand Prix from seventh position following a three-place grid penalty. This penalty comes after he allegedly impeded Red Bull's Max Verstappen during the qualifying session.

Though Hamilton qualified in fourth place, a subsequent review revealed that Ferrari misinformed him about Verstappen's pace, erroneously suggesting the Red Bull driver was slowing down. Hamilton expressed his displeasure over the misleading communication with his team.

Despite the acknowledgment that the error arose due to Ferrari's incorrect message, the stewards determined Hamilton should incur a penalty. The standard consequence is a three-grid position drop, affecting his championship aspirations at Monaco.

(With inputs from agencies.)