Lewis Hamilton said he was "shocked" when he found out he would enter this weekend's Italian Grand Prix with a five-place grid penalty.
The stewards at the Dutch Grand Prix handed out the penalty after Hamilton was caught going too fast under double-waved yellow flags on a reconnaissance lap before the race.
Because Hamilton crashed out of last Sunday's race, the stewards' decision was converted from a time penalty for the Dutch Grand Prix to a grid penalty for this weekend in Monza.
The Ferrari driver said he was not made aware of the penalty until he returned home on Sunday evening.
"I don't know how the other drivers have felt about the decisions of the last race, but I mean, I landed back home and then saw that I got this penalty and I was really, really shocked, to be honest. But I mean, it is what it is," he said in Monza ahead of this weekend's race.
"It's obviously not black and white. The fact is, if you look at the report, I did lift [off the throttle], but to their liking, not enough. And so, yeah, that's why it's, I guess they're saying not more, but to get the penalty and get penalty points, it's pretty hardcore.
"But I learned from it and there's no point whinging about it. I'll just move forward. It's going to be challenging this weekend, because qualifying is already so close between us all. So just getting in Q3 is tough. Getting in the top five is very, very tough.
"And then on top of that, to then be set back five places is not great when you're going into your first Monza GP with Ferrari. But, you know, it gives me more to fight for. And I'm very motivated to make up those places regardless."
After a difficult run of results before F1's summer break, Hamilton believes he made progress during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, even though his race ended in the barriers.
He also hinted at multiple factors leading to his accident, in which he lost the rear of his Ferrari after running wide in damp conditions at the banked Turn 3 corner.
"I think throughout the weekend, I think the approach that we had, I think was spot on," he said. "And yeah, I felt like it was one of our strongest, if not the strongest and smoothest weekend, up until obviously Sunday.
"And Sunday was obviously both disappointing and unfortunate. That's not the result that we want. I said that it's unusual for me because I don't really make a lot of mistakes in races like that.
"But the great thing is that the team remained really, really positive. They're incredibly supportive every single weekend. Even though personally you don't feel great about it, they lift your spirits.
"And then the following days, really, they were deep diving into trying to understand what led to it because it wasn't a case of me lacking concentration. There were several things that contributed to it.
"So for example, we had a downgraded gear shift which locked the rear wheels and spat the rear end out. But also it was spitting with rain. So I was like 10 millimetres wider or something like that, or 10 centimetres wider than I was the previous lap.
"So there are a combination of things. Either way, it's not great. And I learned from it and moved forward.
"If I apply that same approach this weekend and to the following races, I really feel positive of the direction we're going."