FIA announce Lewis Hamilton penalty verdict after Max Verstappen incident at Monaco Grand Prix

An official FIA announcement has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton has been handed a penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix following an incident with long-term rival Max Verstappen.

Both Hamilton and his arch nemesis Verstappen were summoned to see the stewards following qualifying for the iconic race, after Hamilton appeared to block the path of the Dutchman.

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The incident happened as Verstappen travelled up the hill into turn three at the track on a hot lap during Q1, and was forced to take avoiding action with Hamilton on the left-hand side.

Hamilton was left angered with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, who appeared to tell the Brit that Verstappen was just on a slow lap, and Verstappen took to his team radio to lament the seven-time champion's actions.

However, the incident did not affect Verstappen's qualifying, and Hamilton could be seen apologising for the incident once qualifying had finished, with Verstappen appearing to be understanding as the pair came fourth and fifth in qualifying respectively.

Now, following the summons issued by the FIA about the incident, Hamilton has been given a three-place grid penalty, which will demote him down to seventh in the order.

Hamilton and Verstappen renew rivalry

Hamilton may now be driving a Ferrari, but his championship battle while at Mercedes with Verstappen back in 2021 lives long in the memory.

The Brit missed out on an unprecedented eighth world championship title on the last lap of that particular season to Verstappen who has since gone on to add three more championships to his collection.

Despite that fierce rivalry in 2021, the pair now share a great amount of respect for one another, and their chat following qualifying appeared to show that Verstappen was not frustrated with Hamilton's actions during Q1.

Verstappen made it out of Q1 anyway, with the stewards taking that into consideration when making a decision on Hamilton's alleged impeding infringement.

However, despite this, they deemed his infringement to be enough to warrant a grid drop, with an official statement saying: "The driver of car 44 (Hamilton) expressed his displeasure at the incorrect message from the team immediately after the incident.

"During the hearing, the fact of the team’s incorrect message leading to the incident was accepted by the driver of car 44.

"As with previous incidents of this nature where a driver has received inaccurate or incomplete information resulting in a car impeding another, the fact that the radio message was the cause of the impeding does not amount to a mitigating factor.

"We therefore impose the standard penalty of a drop of three grid positions."

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari in FIA summons at Monaco Grand Prix

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