Racing
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McLaren has formally appealed the FIA’s decision to rescind Pierre Gasly’s two Monaco Grand Prix pitlane-speeding penalties, and Red Bull is also understood to have lodged its own appeal after Gasly’s reinstatement cost Isack Hadjar a podium.
The move turns Gasly’s restored third place into a broader fight over whether a post-race correction can fairly rewrite a result after other teams had already served penalties during the race. Gasly had been dropped from third to seventh after two separate five-second penalties, only for Alpine to win a Right of Review that put him back on the podium.
That review hinged on evidence that Formula One Management’s pitlane-speed measurement at Monaco was wrong. Reports described one timing loop, or the measured distance used to calculate speed, as being out by 77 centimeters, which meant Gasly and several other drivers were incorrectly flagged for speeding.
The revised classification had immediate consequences elsewhere. Hadjar lost what would have been his first Formula 1 podium for Red Bull, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was pushed back after serving his own pitlane-speeding penalty during the race.
In a team statement, McLaren said it had “formally lodged a notification of appeal with the FIA International Court of Appeal regarding the following decisions related to the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix: Stewards Document 99; Revised Final Race Classification Document 100; Revised Championship Points Document 101.” The team added that the case raises “important questions concerning sporting fairness, regulatory consistency and the integrity of competition.”
McLaren said all teams had operated to the regulations and standard practices in force during the Monaco weekend, adjusting their procedures and accepting penalties where required. It argued that “the subsequent removal of penalties creates a situation in which some competitors are disadvantaged by having acted in accordance with the rules and the Stewards’ decisions,” and warned that the outcome “risks creating sporting inequity and undermining confidence in the consistent application of the FIA Sporting Regulations.”
Red Bull has not publicly detailed its own appeal, but it had already made clear it wanted answers over a ruling that changed the podium after the fact. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the issue was “more so a matter of principle for the good of the sport to get the right clarity on how we go about non-appealable penalties during the race, and getting the right results at the end of the race.” He added that teams had been working with the same measurement system for years and that “17 or 18 cars have managed to be legal.”
Mercedes is pursuing a different route. Rather than an appeal to the International Court of Appeal, it has filed a Right of Review tied to George Russell’s Monaco penalties after his race unraveled into a drive-through and a finish outside the points. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team had acted because “you just simply want to sit on the table when decisions are being made,” while admitting its chances were “a long shot.”
That leaves the FIA facing challenges on two fronts: appeals from McLaren and Red Bull over the revised classification, and Mercedes’ attempt to reopen Russell’s case. What began as Alpine correcting Gasly’s penalties has become a test of whether Formula 1 can fix an admitted timing error without creating a new argument over equal treatment and finality in race results.