The appeal by Red Bull and McLaren against the FIA’s decision to overturn Pierre Gasly’s time penalties during the Monaco GP starts today in Paris. The Frenchman received the time penalties for exceeding the speed limits in the pit lane. However, these were dismissed when it turned out that a measurement error had been made. McLaren mainly wants clarification from the International Court of Appeal with the hearing: ‘The reversal of the penalty worries us,’ says team principal Andrea Stella.
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The case goes back to the recent Monaco GP. During the race in the principality, Pierre Gasly received two five-second time penalties for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane. However, Alpine did not accept this and appealed against the penalty for their driver. It soon became clear that a measurement error had been made, and Gasly’s penalties were dismissed. This way, the Frenchman still secured third place, at the expense of Isack Hadjar.
In addition, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Franco Colapinto, and Oscar Piastri were also victims of the FIA’s error in determining the measurement distance. Unfortunately for these drivers, penalties that had already been served during the race itself, such as Piastri’s, could not be reversed. After the race, McLaren and Red Bull decided to challenge the decision to dismiss Gasly’s penalty at the International Court of Appeal. This case starts today, Tuesday, August 25, the day after the Dutch GP.
McLaren has a twofold goal
In Zandvoort, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained what his team hopes to achieve with the hearing. “We are going to the hearing at the International Court of Appeal with a twofold goal,” the Italian told the attending media. “The first goal goes beyond McLaren’s interest. We believe that the procedure that took place after the Monaco race should be reviewed. From the perspective of fairness to all participants, it worries us that the penalty was ultimately withdrawn. We want to take the opportunity to ask the International Court of Appeal for clarification on this aspect.”
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However, that is not McLaren’s only goal, Stella continues. “The second aspect concerns McLaren’s own interest,” he continues. “But we are not only concerned about this. We have also actually been disadvantaged because we served a penalty against which no appeal was possible. This even cost us points in the championship. So, on the one hand, there is a general interest for Formula 1 and the integrity of the sport. On the other hand, there is also a concrete interest for McLaren due to the consequences for our championship.”
“So those are the two angles, the two perspectives we want to present during the upcoming hearing at the International Court of Appeal. We want to get clarity on this,” Stella concludes. The hearing takes place today in Paris behind closed doors.
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