Isack Hadjar has kept his podium finish at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP, after FIA stewards investigated the Red Bull driver post-race for a red flag infringement.
Hadjar took part in the podium ceremony alongside race winner Kimi Antonelli and second-placed Lewis Hamilton. However, the result remained under review for a few hours due to an incident that occurred during the red flag in the closing stages of the 2026 Monaco GP.
Red Bull carried out “non-permitted” work on Hadjar’s car during the red flag at 2026 Monaco GP
The stewards noted that Red Bull mechanics were carrying out “operations not permitted” under the F1 regulations to Hadjar’s car during the late red flag at the 2026 Monaco GP, and more notably, returned the original parts to the car as soon as queried by the officials.
“When queried about their works, they stopped working and reverted the car to its previous state without replacing any part,” said the FIA’s document at the time, which stated that the matter would be passed forward to the stewards.
After being called to the stewards’ at 18:30 local time, the result was that no further action would be taken.
The officials noted that the mechanics were trying to swap spark plugs and coils in Hadjar’s car, but didn’t continue to do so and returned the car to the fast lane in the same conditions it had arrived, which meant no sporting advantage was gained late on at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP:
“The team were reported as attempting to change spark plugs/coils but did not proceed with the change and the car started in the same condition as it arrived in the pits, therefore no further action is taken.”
Pérez loses his first points finish for Cadillac; Alonso scores for Aston Martin
Sérgio Pérez, however, didn’t have the same fate with the stewards. The Mexican driver crossed the line in 10th place despite a very hectic race, in which he had already served a drive through penalty for a start procedure infringement at the first instance of lights out.
But the Cadillac driver committed another breach at the standing start after the red flag, as his car was lurching forward from the yellow marker in his grid box, which the stewards took a dim view of and gave Pérez a 10-second time penalty which dropped him from what would’ve been Cadillac’s historic first point to 15th and last of the finishing drivers.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 11 (Sergio Perez), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence.
“Video evidence showed clearly that the front right wheel of Car 11 was outside the starting box. The standard penalty is applied.”
The resulting penalty also means Fernando Alonso moved up to 10th place in the final order of the Monaco GP, and scores Aston Martin’s first point in what has been a dysmal 2026 F1 season for the Silverstone-based squad so far.
