Antonelli had qualified fourth at the Hungaroring but was investigated after failing to reduce his speed sufficiently when Max Verstappen spun at the final corner during the closing stages of Q3.
The Mercedes driver lifted off the throttle after yellow flags were displayed but continued through the corner at a similar speed to his previous flying lap, prompting the stewards to conclude his response had not been substantial enough.
The decision means Antonelli will drop to seventh on the grid, having initially been set to inherit third following Lewis Hamilton’s separate three-place penalty for impeding Piastri at Turn 1.
The two penalties have substantially reshaped the leading grid positions behind pole-sitter Lando Norris.
Charles Leclerc has been promoted to second alongside the McLaren, while Piastri gains two places from his original qualifying position to start third.
Verstappen will move up to fourth, Hamilton drops from second to fifth, George Russell is promoted to sixth and Antonelli will line up seventh.
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Antonelli encountered the yellow flags while completing his final Q3 attempt after Verstappen lost control of his Red Bull and ended up stationary in the runoff area.
Although telemetry confirmed Antonelli had lifted earlier than on his previous push lap, the stewards found the reduction was brief and did not produce a meaningful decrease in speed through the affected section.
“The driver of Car 12 (Antonelli) stated that on seeing the yellow flag and light panel, he lifted off the throttle earlier than his previous push lap. This was verified by the telemetry,” the stewards explained.
“However, the reduction in speed occurred for a very short period, and in fact the car’s speed when passing the scene of the incident involving Car 3 (Verstappen) was slightly higher than that on the previous push lap.”
Antonelli’s time through the relevant mini sector was only 0.03 seconds slower than his personal best, despite entering the yellow flag area 14km/h below the speed recorded on his earlier attempt.
The Italian had lifted 16 metres sooner but applied less braking approaching the final corner, meaning he was travelling 3km/h faster when passing the location of Verstappen’s spin.
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“The FIA representatives noted that the speed reduction in the mini sector was less than 1%,” the stewards said.
“The Stewards considered this incident to be different to other incidents that have resulted in no further action, because unlike those cases, there was no significant speed delta through the mini sector compared to the driver’s previous fastest time under similar circumstances.”
The offence ordinarily carried a recommended five-place grid penalty, but Antonelli’s initial lift and the limited opportunity he had to react persuaded the stewards to reduce the sanction.
“The recommended penalty according to the penalty guidelines, for this offence, is a drop of five grid positions, however in mitigation of penalty, we considered that the driver did make a reduction in speed, albeit, in our determination, an insufficient and unsustained one,” the stewards added.
“Further, the driver had limited time and distance to react. Hence a lower penalty is applied.”
Antonelli has also received one penalty point on his super licence, taking his total to four across the past 12 months.
The penalty compounded a disappointing qualifying session for Mercedes, which surrendered pole position for the first time during the 2026 season as Norris edged Hamilton by 0.012s.
The Hungarian Grand Prix gets underway at 11pm AEST Sunday.
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