Andrea Kimi Antonelli appeared set for a five-second penalty during the Singapore Grand Prix after being shown a black-and-white flag for three track-limit infringements and then going off track again. Yet the Mercedes driver ultimately escaped any sanction, with a later review of one of the earlier incidents changing the situation.
The 20-year-old had already accumulated three apparent track-limit violations by lap 36, mainly at the first chicane but also at Turn 19, the corner leading onto the start-finish straight. At that point, FIA Race Control issued a virtual black-and-white flag warning to Mercedes, effectively putting Andrea Kimi Antonelli on notice that another infringement could trigger a penalty.
Why Andrea Kimi Antonelli appeared certain to receive a penalty
The fourth incident came around 15 laps later while the Mercedes driver was fighting with Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton for third place on track. Given the information available to viewers, a five-second time penalty appeared almost inevitable.
McLaren was sufficiently concerned about that possibility that the team instructed Lando Norris to remain within five seconds of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in case the FIA later added the expected penalty to the Mercedes driver’s race time.
The sanction never came. In sporting terms it would not have changed the result anyway, because Andrea Kimi Antonelli eventually crossed the line with almost 16 seconds in hand over Lando Norris, the first driver behind him. The absence of a penalty nevertheless raised questions because the sequence of apparent infringements seemed straightforward from the outside.
The incident also came during a Singapore Grand Prix in which Ferrari’s own race was shaped by tyre strategy and track position, with the Ferrari SF-26 Singapore GP analysis showing how the closing stages developed around Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Mercedes successfully challenged one of the earlier track-limit calls
The explanation was eventually provided by Dutch Viaplay commentator Nelson Valkenburg, who said he had asked the FIA directly about the decision. According to Nelson Valkenburg, Mercedes requested a review of one of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s first three alleged infringements after the black-and-white flag had already been communicated.
Nelson Valkenburg explained: “I spoke to the FIA about it because Kimi already had a warning and then committed another infringement. He should have received a five-second penalty, but Mercedes asked them to look again at one of the three infringements and, after the review, they decided that the infringement was not an infringement. That is why the penalty did not come.”
That review meant Andrea Kimi Antonelli no longer had three valid previous infringements on his record when the later incident occurred. As a result, the subsequent excursion did not represent the fourth confirmed violation required to trigger the five-second sanction that many observers had expected.
How FIA track-limit checks work
Track-limit infringements are often first detected automatically by sensors around the circuit, but an automated signal does not by itself guarantee a penalty. The stewards carry out a manual review before a violation is formally confirmed, and in this case that process resulted in one of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s earlier alleged infringements being removed.
That manual verification ultimately prevented the Mercedes driver from receiving the five-second penalty. Although the decision had little impact on the final finishing order because of his comfortable margin over Lando Norris, it explains why the apparent fourth infringement did not produce the sanction viewers had been expecting.
The episode underlined how race-control decisions can evolve after review, even when the live timing picture initially suggests a clear-cut case. Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Singapore result therefore remained unchanged, while the FIA’s reassessment of one earlier incident proved decisive in the final ruling.
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