Bottas receives penalty after practice day
Kick Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas has been handed a fine for speeding in the pit lane during the opening one-hour practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The speed limit in the pit lane is considerably lower in Monaco than on other venues. While the standard is 80kph across the practice sessions, qualifying and the race on the majority of tracks, its is set at only 60kph in Monte Carlo given the tight nature of the pit lane in the Principality.
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 opening session of the weekend saw Valtteri Bottas fail to adhere to the speed limit with the Finn driver having travelled by 14.6kph faster down the pit lane than the maximum allowed speed.
The Kick Sauber driver was therefore handed a fine of EUR1000.
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.
