The FIA’s decision to overturn Pierre Gasly’s two Monaco Grand Prix pit-lane speeding penalties and restore the Frenchman to the podium five days after the race is certain to generate plenty of debate.
Alpine deserves credit for exercising its right to request a review and presenting new evidence that ultimately overturned the original ruling issued by the stewards.
A podium restored after the fact for Gasly
Pierre Gasly was officially handed back his third-place finish in Monaco after the FIA determined that the penalties imposed during the race were based on incorrect measurements.
The decision dramatically reshaped the final classification of the Monaco Grand Prix several days after the chequered flag, creating one of the most unusual post-race reversals seen in recent Formula 1 history.
What happened in Monaco?
As is well known, drivers must respect an average pit-lane speed limit of 60 km/h at Monte Carlo.
During the race, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Franco Colapinto, Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly were all penalized for allegedly exceeding that limit. Gasly received two separate penalties.
Interestingly, every driver was reported at 60.1 km/h, with the exception of Gasly’s second offence, which was recorded at 60.4 km/h.
Those readings resulted in a series of five-second penalties being handed out throughout the race.
Why did only Alpine appeal?
Alpine activated its right to request a review on Sunday evening, arguing that the team had been unfairly penalized. Gasly had crossed the finish line in third place before the penalties were applied after the race.
The other drivers had already served their five-second penalties during the Grand Prix itself, making any form of compensation virtually impossible if an error was later discovered.
The most striking case involved George Russell. After failing to properly serve his original five-second penalty during his pit stop, the Mercedes driver was handed a drive-through penalty that dropped him out of the points.
In addition, Formula 1 regulations allow only 96 hours after an event for teams to submit a request for review.
The 77 centimetres that changed everything
“The official timekeeper stated that the distance used for the pit-lane measurement was 2692 cm. However, the official timekeeper’s report subsequently found that measurements believed to have been carried out after the event showed the shortest distance between the first and second timing lines to be 2615 cm, which is 77 cm less than the distance used to calculate the car’s average speed,” the FIA explained in its official statement.
The governing body ultimately concluded that “car number 10 was not exceeding the 60 km/h speed limit.”
Those 77 centimetres proved crucial, as they meant the original calculations had overestimated the average speed recorded by Gasly’s Alpine.
What can the drivers who already served penalties do?
Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Franco Colapinto and Oscar Piastri had all already served their penalties during the race.
The stewards noted that “there is no regulation that grants the stewards the authority to cancel a penalty that has already been served.”
As a result, Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine and McLaren have no mechanism available to recover the time lost by their drivers, despite the FIA acknowledging that a technical error had occurred.
Red Bull and McLaren plan to appeal
Shortly after the ruling was announced, both Red Bull and McLaren reportedly indicated their intention to appeal against Gasly’s reinstatement to third place.
They now have 96 hours to formally proceed with that action.
The reason is straightforward. Isack Hadjar dropped from third to fourth place following the decision, while Oscar Piastri slipped from fourth to fifth.
Both teams would like the original race classification restored.
What about Russell and Mercedes?
Mercedes did not file an appeal and saw George Russell’s race effectively ruined by the chain of events that followed the initial penalty.
The British driver fell from third place all the way to 13th after receiving the additional drive-through penalty.
Journalist Adam Cooper described Mercedes as “furious” after learning that the pit-lane speed measurements used during the Monaco Grand Prix were not accurate.
However, as things currently stand, there is no regulatory mechanism capable of compensating drivers who suffered penalties during the race itself as a result of the measurement error.
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