Alpine’s Right of Review of Pierre Gasly’s penalties at the Monaco Grand Prix has been granted, reinstating the veteran driver to a P3 podium finish nearly a week after the race.
Gasly was assessed a pair of five-second penalties for speeding in pit late, which were assessed after the checkered flag. While he crossed the finish line at Formula 1’s marquee event in third, the combined ten seconds on penalties dropped him down the final classification from P3 to P7.
Alpine requested a Right of Review, asserting that new information that was not available to race officials at the time the decisions were made was available after the race. That review was successful on Thursday, as the team provided information that Formula One Management, the sport’s official timekeeper, had incorrectly measured the distance between timing loops used to measure pit lane speeds.
As noted in the decision, “[i]n its report, which formed part of the Alpine submission, the Official Timekeeper advised that for its setup of the pit lane speeding zones, it applied a measurement to the length of the first ‘zone’ of 2692cm (accurate to within 1 cm).
“However, the Official Timekeeper’s report then states that using LIDAR scans (Light Detection and Ranging), presumably post-event, the shortest distance between the first and second loops of the zone was found to be only 2615cm, i.e. 77cm less than the setup distance used by them to calculate the speed of the car in that “zone” of the pit lane. However, that distance does not take into account the width of the car, which would increase the shortest distance that could be travelled by a small amount.“
In reaching a decision, the race stewards concluded that “the Official Timekeeper’s calculation that in the recorded times of Car 10 between the two loops in question (1.604 seconds and 1.602 seconds respectively) if an assumption was made that Car 10 was averaging 60 km/h, the distance travelled would have been 2673 cm and 2670 cm respectively. When these distances are compared to the applied distance of 2692 cm and the theoretical shortest distance of 2615 cm, we conclude that Car 10 was not exceeding the 60 km/h speed limit between those two loops. This conclusion is reached even taking into account the car width and the likelihood that the car was not driven on the theoretical shortest route.”
As such, Gasly’s penalties were rescinded, and he was returned to P3 in the final classification. That also means that Isack Hadjar, who believed he secured his first podium with Red Bull, was dropped down to P4. Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, and Arvid Lindblad also drop down a position each.
Alpine released a brief statement after the decision.
“We welcome the decision made by the FIA to deem our Right of Review as admissible following the final classification of last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix,” said the team.
“As a result, the Stewards have rescinded the two five-second penalties imposed on Car #10, which reinstates the team’s third place finish.
“We would like to thank the FIA and Formula One Management for its transparency and co-operation throughout the Right of Review process and for reaching this decision.
“The team’s focus is now very much on this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and striving for the best possible result with both of its cars.”
The team also shared this video of Gasly letting the garage know the result:
Gasly was one of several drivers to receive a speeding penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix. However, he was the only driver to not serve those penalties during the race. In the decision, race officials noted that fact.
“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,“ read the decision.
