Williams and Alpine were fined after Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto exceeded the 60 kilometre-per-hour pit lane limit in Monaco FP3, a small penalty on paper but a sharp reminder of how little margin the teams had at the street circuit. The latest hit landed while f1 driver standings pressure was already building around a session packed with mistakes, speed traps and a red flag.
Albon was clocked at 60.2km/h and Williams was fined €100. Colapinto went harder, reaching 68.8km/h and drawing a €900 fine for Alpine after the stewards caught the breach in final practice.
Monaco FP3 speed traps
The numbers tell the story. Monaco’s pit lane is capped at 60 kilometre-per-hour, and both cars slipped over it in Saturday’s FP3 run at Monte Carlo. Albon still finished 16th in the session, while Colapinto was classified 19th after his own problems on track.
Colapinto’s day was already messy before the pit lane breach. He was forced to stop for repairs to his rear wing after a half spin at the hairpin, then added the speed-limit infringement that left Alpine paying the larger fine.
Antonelli leads, Bearman crashes
Kimi Antonelli ended FP3 on top, more than three tenths clear of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. That left Ferrari with both drivers in the chase behind the Mercedes pace-setter, even as the session kept moving toward its own disruption.
Oliver Bearman brought out the red flag in the closing stages after crashing at Massenet. The stoppage closed a practice hour that had already been shaped by strict enforcement, with Monaco’s tight pit lane leaving no room for teams to recover even a small mistake.
McLaren’s earlier penalty
The FIA had already acted on Friday, when McLaren received a partially suspended fine of €30,000 after Lando Norris stopped on track during FP2. Stewards said tape covering the CDS button on the MCL40 for aerodynamic purposes completely defeated the purpose of the system, adding another layer of scrutiny to a weekend that has already produced multiple penalties.
For Williams and Alpine, the immediate damage is financial rather than sporting, but the message from Monaco was plain: even a fraction over the limit can turn into a fine fast. At a circuit where the pit lane is the tightest on the calendar, the margin between discipline and punishment was measured in tenths of a kilometre per hour.
