Gasly Reinstated to Monaco Podium Following Timekeeping Error
Pierre Gasly was reinstated to the Monaco Grand Prix podium on Friday after race stewards withdrew penalties for pitlane speeding, acknowledging a timekeeping error after an appeal by Alpine.
The French driver had originally finished third on the track but was demoted to seventh after receiving two five-second penalties following last Sunday’s race. Formula One, which is responsible for timekeeping, has admitted to an error in its measurements.
Alpine, which requested a right of review, welcomed the decision in a statement and expressed gratitude to Formula One Management and the FIA for their transparency and cooperation.
Gasly said on Sunday that he was heartbroken by the penalties and stated, “to have a lifelong dream of a Monaco podium taken away from me for reasons which I just cannot comprehend.”
The reinstatement means Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who had been promoted to third place and celebrated on the podium alongside Mercedes’ winner Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, will now drop to fourth.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moves down to fifth, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson to sixth, and teammate Arvid Lindblad to seventh.
The decision is likely to be particularly disappointing for other drivers who received similar time penalties for pitlane speeding but did not pursue a review, as well as for Mercedes driver George Russell, who was given a drive-through penalty that left him outside the points.
Russell told reporters on Thursday that he had requested his penalty be applied post-race and commented it would be a “kick in the balls” if Gasly’s penalties were overturned.
The stewards issued a statement addressing the situation:
“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. 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.”
