The FIA has handed McLaren and Ferrari suspended €5,000 fines after their drivers arrived late to the Thursday press conference at the Monaco Grand Prix, turning what teams may have seen as a minor scheduling slip into a formal regulations breach. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc were called before the stewards on Friday morning, and the decision means the penalty will only bite if either team commits a similar offence within the next 12 months.
That is why Liam Lawson is being searched alongside Monaco: the weekend’s media routine has become the story, not the racing, because the stewards acted on a timing violation that had no bearing on the track but still fell under the rulebook. Both Norris and Leclerc told officials they had been delayed at a previous commitment, and the FIA made clear that the competitor is responsible for a driver’s actions, so the fines landed on McLaren and Ferrari rather than the men who were late.
The rule behind the case is Article B10.1.1a of the FIA sporting regulations, which covers late attendance at the Thursday press conference. That session is part of a fixed grand prix-weekend format in which six drivers are split into two groups of three for an hour every Thursday before a race. In Monaco, the lateness was treated as trivial and inconsequential to the rest of the weekend, but the stewards still treated it as a breach and issued suspended penalties.
The FIA’s ruling also fits a pattern it has shown before. Max Verstappen avoided a penalty for being late to the Thursday press conference at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix after being caught in traffic on the way to the track, while Mercedes received a reprimand after Lewis Hamilton turned up late to the Thursday press conference at the 2023 British Grand Prix. Monaco was different only in the sanction: suspended fines rather than a warning or no action at all.
For McLaren and Ferrari, the practical effect is immediate even if the money is not. The teams are now on notice for the next 12 months, and any repeat late arrival in a similar circumstance could activate the fines that were held back this time. What still hangs over the case is the one detail neither driver has explained publicly: what previous commitment ran so late that it pushed both of them past the stewards’ clock.
