Perez penalized in Monaco: Cadillac loses maiden point to Aston Martin

Cadillac’s celebrations have been cut brutally short in the Monaco paddock. Sergio Perez has been stripped of his tenth-place finish following a post-race time penalty, a decision that robs the American newcomer of the first World Championship point in its Formula 1 history.

Instead, the final reward on the streets of Monte Carlo inherits to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, handing the British squad an unexpected lifeline in what has otherwise been a disastrous 2026 campaign.

Heartbreak for Cadillac’s milestone moment

Perez had crossed the finish line believing he had secured a historic milestone for the Cadillac project after surviving a chaotic, incident-packed race.

However, the FIA stewards opened an immediate investigation into the Mexican driver’s conduct during the late-race standing restart sequence following the Red Flag.

The investigation concluded that Perez failed to comply with formation procedures prior to the green flag, resulting in a time penalty that plummeted his Cadillac down the final classification and outside of the top ten.

The decision delays Cadillac’s entry onto the official F1 scoreboard just as the team appeared to be turning a corner in operational execution.

A minor consolation for an embattled Aston Martin

The structural shakeup provides a massive, much-needed relief for Aston Martin.

The Silverstone-based team has endured a miserable start to the 2026 technical regulations, plagued by a severe lack of aerodynamic development and a string of costly accidents, including Lance Stroll’s race-ending crash at Turn 19 earlier in the afternoon.

While inheriting P10 via a steward’s document offers little comfort for a team that previously targeted podiums, it officially gets Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin off the mark with their very first point of the season.