Budapest: Antonelli receives grid penalty for Hungarian Grand Prix after yellow flag breach

By Arjun Nair / 26.07.2026

By Arjun Nair — 25 July 2026 — 3 min read

Kimi Antonelli, the current F1 championship leader, has been issued a three-place grid penalty for the Hungarian Grand Prix. This penalty follows a rule violation during Saturday’s Qualifying session at the Hungaroring circuit. Antonelli was found to have not slowed down sufficiently for yellow flags that were deployed after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun during Q3.

The breach relates to Appendix H, Article 2.5.5 b) of the International Sporting Code and B1.8.4a of the FIA F1 Regulations. Initially, Antonelli had qualified in the fourth-fastest position. He had also provisionally moved up a spot on the grid due to a separate three-place penalty given to Lewis Hamilton for impeding McLaren driver Oscar Piastri at the end of Q3.

Stewards’ Decision on Yellow Flag Incident

Following a post-Qualifying investigation, race stewards reviewed all available evidence to reach their decision. The driver of Car 12, Antonelli, stated that he lifted off the throttle earlier than his previous push lap upon seeing the yellow flag and light panel. Telemetry data verified this action.

However, the reduction in speed was for a very brief period. The car’s speed when passing the scene of Verstappen’s incident was slightly higher than during Antonelli’s previous push lap. The mini sector time was only 0.03 seconds slower than his best time for that mini sector. While he was 14 km/h slower entering the yellow flag sector due to lifting 16 metres earlier, he was 3 km/h faster when passing the incident site because of less brake application into the corner.

FIA representatives noted that the speed reduction in the mini sector was less than 1%. The stewards considered this incident distinct from others that resulted in no further action, as there was no significant speed difference through the mini sector compared to the driver’s previous fastest time under similar conditions. The recommended penalty for this offence, according to penalty guidelines, is a five-grid position drop. However, in mitigation, the stewards acknowledged that Antonelli did reduce speed, though it was deemed insufficient and unsustained. Additionally, he had limited time and distance to react, leading to a lower penalty being applied.

Impact on Starting Grid

With this penalty, Antonelli will now drop to P7 for Sunday’s race. This adds to the challenge for the championship leader as he aims to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings. In a separate incident during Qualifying, Antonelli also received a warning from the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly during an in-lap.

The revised starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix places Lando Norris of McLaren in pole position. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari will start second, followed by Oscar Piastri of McLaren in third. Max Verstappen of Red Bull is set to start fourth, with Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari in fifth, and George Russell of Mercedes in sixth. Antonelli will start from the seventh position on the grid.

Other notable positions include Isack Hadjar of Red Bull in eighth, Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls in ninth, and Nico Hulkenberg of Audi completing the top ten. The grid also features Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) in eleventh, Pierre Gasly (Alpine) in twelfth, and Franco Colapinto (Alpine) in thirteenth. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) will start fourteenth, while Esteban Ocon (Haas) is in fifteenth. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) is set to start sixteenth, with Ollie Bearman (Haas) in seventeenth, and Carlos Sainz (Williams) in eighteenth. Alex Albon (Williams) will start nineteenth, and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) twentieth. The grid is completed by Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) in twenty-first and Sergio Perez (Cadillac) in twenty-second.

Source: formula1.com