Pierre Gasly Gets Monaco Trophy Amid New Appeal

More than two weeks after the Monaco Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly has finally received the third-place trophy after Alpine succeeded in overturning the two five-second pit-lane speeding penalties that had briefly stripped him of the podium.

Gasly crossed the line third in Monaco, but the result changed after the race when he was penalized twice for speeding in the pit lane. Those sanctions dropped the Alpine driver to seventh in the classification and appeared to end his chance of adding another Monaco podium. Alpine then challenged the decision with the FIA, arguing there had been an error in the way the timing data had been handled.

The stewards re-examined the case and cancelled both penalties, restoring Gasly to third place in the official result. One report said Formula One's race direction later conceded that the timing measurement used to calculate the speed was out by 77cm, a detail that proved central to Alpine's case.

That reversal had an immediate effect on another driver. Isack Hadjar had been promoted to third after Gasly's demotion and had celebrated what he believed was the first podium of his Formula 1 career for Red Bull. Once Gasly was reinstated, Hadjar dropped back to fourth, even though he had already received the third-place trophy on race day.

Gasly confirmed the trophy had reached him in a social media post on Wednesday evening. Pierre Gasly, Alpine driver, wrote on Instagram: "[The] Monaco trophy found its way home!!! Happyyyy day, happy life!!"

The story, though, is still not settled in sporting terms. Red Bull and McLaren have both filed protests or appeals against the revised Monaco result, arguing that other teams accepted and served similar penalties during the race and were put at a disadvantage when Gasly's sanctions were later removed.

McLaren said in its submission that teams had operated throughout the weekend according to the regulations and standard practices in force at the time, and that competitors adjusted their procedures accordingly and, where required, served penalties imposed under those rules. The team added that removing penalties afterward created a situation in which some competitors were disadvantaged for having complied with the rulings as they stood.

For now, Gasly is back on the Monaco podium and has the trophy to prove it. But with Red Bull and McLaren still challenging the stewards' interpretation, the result that returned it to him remains vulnerable to another change.