Perez had crossed the line 10th on the road but was summoned to the stewards after the race for a standing restart infringement, before being handed a 10-second penalty that dropped him to last.
The decision handed the final points-paying position to Fernando Alonso, promoting him to 10th and delivering Aston Martin its first point of the 2026 season.
The stewards ruled the infringement clear-cut, stating: “Video evidence showed clearly that the front right wheel of car #11 [Perez] was outside the starting box. The standard penalty is applied.”
It capped a chaotic afternoon for Perez, who had already served a drive-through penalty earlier in the race for incorrectly pulling into a vacant grid slot during the original start procedure.
Despite the outcome, the Mexican driver insisted Cadillac could take positives from what had been a breakthrough performance.
“We looked at different angles. It’s hard to prove from one angle,” Perez said.
“When you look from one angle it’s clear, but from another it isn’t that clear. So, I think they were just checking to make a decision.
“Regardless of that, we got P10 on track. We had no benefit of that [being out of position].
“I actually had a very poor start, but the lap one at the racetrack was incredible. It made us come back.”
Perez added that the result had still exceeded expectations for the fledgling outfit.
“From my side, I am optimistic from what I’ve seen, but at the end it’s down to the stewards.”
While Cadillac’s landmark result slipped away, the revised classification still delivered further drama, with Isack Hadjar retaining his maiden Red Bull podium after a stewards’ investigation into a potential red flag infringement.
Officials ultimately found the team had not completed any prohibited work on the car, with the matter dismissed and Hadjar’s third place confirmed.
The Frenchman had briefly faced uncertainty after finishing on the podium for the Red Bull team for the first time, but stewards concluded the car was returned to its original condition after a precautionary inspection in the pits, meaning no penalty was applied.
The decision came amid an extraordinary number of penalties across the Monaco race, particularly for pitlane speeding, which affected several drivers and reshaped the final classification.
Officials found the infringements were extremely marginal, with some measured at just 0.1 km/h over the limit.
Rather than a system error, the FIA concluded the issue stemmed from drivers cutting the pit entry more aggressively than intended, slightly shortening the measured distance and triggering technical breaches under the electronic timing system.
The fallout was significant in the points, with multiple positions changing after penalties were applied.
Among those impacted were Alpine, with Pierre Gasly dropping from a potential podium finish on the road to seventh overall after a pair of pitlane speeding penalties.
A furious Gasly ripped into the decisions after the race.
“I don’t think there is anything that could hurt me more right now,” Gasly said when asked for his view.
“It’s 10 years I’m fucking working my ass off for this type of moment and we did everything right.”
“Standing on that podium in front of all the fans that turn up – this is the type of moment that, for me, can’t be taken away from us by unfair reasons.
“Because what’s going on right now is not right and hopefully they can make the right calls.”
Alpine has since lodged a right of review into the penalties, arguing that car data shows Gasly was within the 60 km/h limit and that the issue may warrant reassessment.
Antonelli survives late Monaco drama to claim fifth straight win
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