Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was reinstated to the Monaco Grand Prix podium on Friday after Formula One stewards, meeting days later, recognised a timekeeping error and rescinded penalties for pitlane speeding that had dropped him to seventh.
Champions McLaren, one of several teams set to lose points as a result of the about-turn, said they had presented an intention to appeal.
Gasly had finished third on the track but the Frenchman missed out on the podium celebrations when two five-second penalties were applied after last Sunday’s race finish.
Formula One, responsible for the timekeeping, admitted to a “measurement discrepancy” resulting from pitlane changes.
Renault-owned Alpine, which had sought a right of review, welcomed the decision in a statement and thanked Formula One Management and the governing FIA for their transparency and cooperation.
LIFELONG DREAM TAKEN AWAY
Gasly was adamant on Sunday that he had not been speeding and said he was heartbroken by the penalties and “to have a lifelong dream of a Monaco podium taken away from me for reasons which I just cannot comprehend”.
The stewards’ decision means Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who had inherited third place and joined Mercedes’ winner Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on the podium, drops back to fourth and has yet to score a first top-three finish with his team.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moves down to fifth, with Racing Bulls‘ Liam Lawson sixth and teammate Arvid Lindblad seventh.
The decision will taste particularly bitter for others who suffered time penalties for pitlane speeding but did not seek a review, and for luckless Mercedes driver George Russell, who had to serve a drive-through penalty that left him out of the points on Sunday – and 68 points adrift of Antonelli after six rounds.
Russell told reporters on Thursday that he had pleaded for his penalty to be added post-race, to retain a chance of it being overturned, and said it would be a “kick in the balls” if Gasly had his penalties overturned.
“The stewards note that in relation to other cars that were penalised, some served their penalty and this, regrettably, impacted their race strategies and therefore their race result,” the officials said in a statement.
“There will undoubtedly remain questions as to whether those breaches were genuine. There is no regulation that gives the Stewards the power to ‘undo‘ a served penalty.
“In any case, it is impossible to imagine how such power could be applied. Notably, no other party petitioned for a Right of Review within the allowable time frame.”
KNOWN ISSUE WITH THE TIMING LOOPS
Alpine argued in their written submission that both the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM), but not the stewards, knew before the race that there was an issue with the timing loops in the pit lane.
They also provided data showing that Gasly activated the car’s speed limiter before entering the pit lane and had stayed within the limit. The timing had recorded him doing 60.1 and 60.4 kph when the limit was 60 kph.
Stewards said confirmation of the inaccurate distance measurement was provided by FOM only on the Wednesday after the race.
They noted concern during the race after three initial pitlane speeding breaches, all at 60.1 kph, and said they had asked race control if there was any issue with the system, to which the answer was negative.
A revised barrier layout at the entry to the pit lane may have allowed drivers to take a different trajectory to that of previous years but McLaren and Red Bull argued at the hearing that the timing had been consistent all weekend and the risk of discrepancies was well known.
Formula One said it had followed procedures in the usual way.
“Like everyone in the sport, we strive for the best results and, as always, any improvements or refinements that are identified as being required in light of this situation will be implemented,” a spokesman said.
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