Alpine have asked for a ‘Right of Review’ following a dramatic and penalty-filled Monaco Grand Prix in which Pierre Gasly was stripped of a podium finish before the man who took his place also came under F1 investigation. Kimi Antonelli won his fifth-straight race, becoming the youngest ever Monaco champion.
But there was chaos behind him as Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Gasly, Franco Colapinto and Lance Stroll all copped time penalties. Stroll, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman all failed to finish.
Pierre Gasly (L) was stripped of a podium finish, while Isack Hadjar (far right) also came under investigation. Image: Getty
But the most heartbreaking twist came for Gasly, who crossed the line third and thought he’d secured a spot on the podium. But the French driver was ruled to have exceeded the pit lane speed limit on two occasions – resulting in a 10-second penalty that sent him from third to seventh after the race.
Isack Hadjar was elevated to third, but only got to keep his podium spot after an investigation. Red Bull came under investigation for an alleged red flag infringement when they were spotted making changes to Hadjar’s car when they weren’t supposed to be.
They only escaped a sanction because they didn’t follow through with the changes and reverted the car to its original state. Stewards said: “The team were reported as attempting to change spark plugs/coils but did not proceed with the change and the car started in the same condition as it arrived in the pits, therefore no further action is taken.”
Pierre Gasly ‘heartbroken’ as team lodges protest
As for Gasly, Alpine have lodged a protest of his penalties and requested an official ‘Right of Review’ from the FIA. “I’m just heartbroken,” he told Sky Sports after the race. “I don’t have the words, I have too much emotions to process and I just can’t get my head around what happened and it just doesn’t sound fair.”
Pierre Gasly was heartbroken after the Monaco Grand Prix.
(Jayce Illman)
Gasly was adamant he hadn’t gone over the speed limit after it was deemed he broke the rules by 0.1km/h and 0.4km/h. “I know as well for a fact that what’s in the car is below the 60km/h,” he said. “And I know on both occasions I’ve put it way before the line. That’s probably the most simple setting you can put in a Formula 1 car.
“When you have three or four teams that get caught for speeding … Hopefully it brings about the guys that need to check exactly what’s going on because it’s just not right.”
Piastri was also pinged for speeding but said he didn’t believe he went over the limit. The Aussie driver eventually finished fourth from starting seventh despite not overtaking anyone. All the drivers he went past copped time penalties.