Why was Lewis Hamilton given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane at the Miami GP sprint race?

Lewis Hamilton was handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane during the 2024 F1 Miami GP sprint race, which later converted into a 20-second penalty.

The Mercedes star had a difficult start to the race weekend in Miami. Though he had a decent pace during FP1, he could not make it out of SQ2 in the sprint qualifying session. Hamilton started the sprint race from P12 and got involved in a lap one turn-one incident with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll when he tried to dive down the inside and overtake several cars.

He was not penalized for his moves in lap one. Since both Stroll and Lando Norris retired from the race with their cars on the track near turn one, the safety car came out and all cars were directed toward the pitlane.

Lewis Hamilton accidentally exceeded the speed limit by 10.7 km/h in the pitlane. Though Hamilton did not receive a penalty for his bold moves in lap one, he was given a drive-through penalty during the last stages of the Miami GP sprint race for speeding in the pitlane during the safety car period.

Since Hamilton was unable to serve the penalty in the race itself, it was later converted into a 20-second time penalty. This caused the seven-time world champion to tumble down the grid from P8 to P16 in the results.

The official FIA document about Lewis Hamilton's penalty read:

"Car 44 exceeded the pit lane speed limit which is set at 80 km/h for this event by 10.7 km/h. Per the Penalty Guidelines, the penalty for speeding in the pit lane during a sprint session race by between 6-15km/h is a drive through. This is what we impose."

"As the drive through penalty was imposed during the last three laps, it will be converted to a 20 second time penalty per Article 54.3 (d) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations."

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Lewis Hamilton not too disappointed after receiving a penalty for speeding in the pitlane at the 2024 F1 Miami GP

Lewis Hamilton said he was not too worried after receiving a hefty 20-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane during a safety car period at the Miami GP sprint.

Speaking to F1.com after the sprint race, Hamilton said though the 20-second penalty "sucks," he was not too concerned about it because he lost only one point by tumbling down from P8 to P16.

"The penalty, it definitely sucks, but its one point," Hamilton said.

Hamilton stands in ninth place in the drivers' championship table with only 19 points.