Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was fined for speeding in the pit lane during the opening practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Stake has been handed a €1,000 fine by Monaco Grand Prix stewards after Valtteri Bottas sped in the Monaco Grand Prix pit-lane. The Finn was clocked at 74.6kph – 46.35mph – just one minute into the session in Monte Carlo, exceeding the 60kph – 37.28mph – limit by 14.6kph – 9.07mph.
Compared to other venues Monaco’s pit lane speed limit is far lower. Although most tracks have 80 kph as the standard during practice, qualifying, and the race, Monte Carlo has a 60 kph limit because of the compact pit lane in the Principality.
Bottas was therefore found to be in violation of Article 34.7 of the Sporting Regulations as he finished the session in 12th place while teammate Zhou Guanyu brought up the red flag to clear debris after a wall-strike at Sainte Devote.
With drivers exploring the limits in every part of the track, it can happen that they exceed the pit lane speed limit in free practices. The severity of the penalty, in this case, a fine, depends on how much the driver infringed the speed limit.
Considering the fact that the incident happened just two minutes after the start of the first session when Bottas headed back into the pits following his installation lap, it might have been down to a calibration issue.
Lance Stroll was also found to have exceeded the limit by 0.2 kph (0.12 mph) and was fined 100 Euros ($108).
