On the sidelines of the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona, the FIA announced the decision that Alpine driver Pierre Gasly could keep his third place from the Formula 1 race in Monaco. But: At least the F1 team will not accept the decision without a fight. Will the result from Monte Carlo be mixed up again?
McLaren confirmed on Tuesday that it would appeal the FIA’s decision to lift pit lane speeding penalties against Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix. According to consistent media reports, Red Bull will also make this decision, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.
“While we fully respect the FIA’s judicial procedures and the role of race stewards, we believe that this case raises important questions regarding sporting fairness, the uniformity of regulations and the integrity of competition,” McLaren said in a statement, justifying its objection to the FIA decision.
Formula 1: Red Bull also affected by Gasly’s U-turn
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who was moved from fourth to fifth place, was one of the many drivers who were said to have driven too fast in the pit lane and received time penalties as a result. But: Unlike Gasly, the competitors served their penalties during the race. This enabled Alpine to immediately protest against his transfer to seventh place, which was upheld.
“In our view, the subsequent lifting of the penalties leads to a situation in which some participants are disadvantaged because they have adhered to the rules and the decisions of the race stewards,” Papaya added with Blick: “Such a result risks creating sporting inequality and undermining trust in the uniform application of the FIA sporting regulations.”
At Red Bull, Isack Hadjar is the sufferer, having to give up the second podium of his Formula 1 career to Pierre Gasly. The objection from his racing team is also expected soon. Mercedes also doesn’t want to accept the race result idly. The Silver Arrows team is having the original rating from race Sunday checked using the same sports law approach as Alpine. George Russell only finished twelfth due to a drive-through penalty.
As the world motorsport association FIA has admitted, the official measuring zone in the pit lane was 77 centimeters too long due to changed track boundaries. If we use this distance as the basis for Gasly’s two disputed cases, he was always within the legal range at 58.7 km/h and 58.8 km/h.