Pierre Gasly stated that he regards his third-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1 as legitimate, after the FIA reversed penalties that had altered his result. The Alpine driver emphasized that his team was penalized for an infraction which, according to data analyzed afterward, never occurred.
The FIA’s decision reinstated the Frenchman to third place days after the race, but it also sparked discontent among other drivers and teams affected by the penalties handed out during the event. Among them is Oscar Piastri, who served his penalty during the race, and without it would have finished ahead of Gasly.
During the showdown on the streets of Monte Carlo, Gasly crossed the finish line in third place. However, two penalties for allegedly speeding in the pit lane resulted in ten seconds added to his final time, dropping him to seventh position. As a result, Isack Hadjar temporarily inherited a podium spot.
Following the Alpine-initiated Right of Review, the FIA concluded that the penalties should not have been applied. Nevertheless, Gasly declined to comment directly on the cases of Piastri and George Russell, who also received penalties during the race. According to him, there isn’t enough information to compare the situations.
“I’ll just make one thing clear. I know what we did. I know we were at 59 km/h in the pit lane and were accused of going over 60 km/h, which did not happen. I don’t think it’s right to be punished for something we didn’t do, simply because others were penalized too,” he said.
The Frenchman stressed that he does not know the data from the other involved drivers: “I really don’t know whether Oscar or George exceeded the speed or not. I didn’t see their data. I don’t know if it was the same issue we had. Based on that, I can’t comment. Obviously, if they did not commit any infraction, it’s a pity. They ended up being harmed, and I’m not in favor of that,” he said.
Gasly also explained that Alpine chose not to execute a fresh pit stop to serve the penalty during the race, which subsequently enabled them to pursue the Right of Review: “We knew we hadn’t done anything wrong and that we would contest. In the end, for the good of the sport, credit to the FIA and to Formula 1. When there was a mistake, they took responsibility and did the right thing by reversing the decision, because we hadn’t done anything wrong,” he added.
Although he officially regained third place, Gasly is still awaiting the presentation of the trophy corresponding to the Monaco result. The trophy had initially been handed to Hadjar, and the expectation is that Red Bull Racing will arrange its transfer to the Alpine driver at a future date. Yet, the situation could still change, as Red Bull and McLaren intend to appeal the decision that restored the podium to the Frenchman. If the process progresses, the International Court of Appeal could reevaluate the case and even overturn the stewards’ decision.
