PARIS : Formula One’s International Court of Appeal will meet in Paris on Tuesday to deliver the final verdict on who finished third at the Monaco Grand Prix, more than two months after the race.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly originally crossed the line third on June 7 but was demoted to seventh after stewards imposed two five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was promoted to third and collected the podium trophy.
The decision was overturned five days later after Alpine provided evidence of a timekeeping error. The penalties were removed and Hadjar subsequently returned the trophy to Gasly.
McLaren and Red Bull appealed the decision to the FIA’s international court on June 16.
McLaren’s challenge centres partly on the different treatment of Gasly and Oscar Piastri, who was penalised during the race for the same offence. Piastri, who had been running fourth, dropped to fifth after Gasly was reinstated.
Unlike Gasly, Piastri served his penalties during the race and had no opportunity to recover the lost time after the stewards’ original decision.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said at the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend that the appeal was aimed at both protecting sporting fairness and addressing the impact on his team’s championship position.
“We think that the process that happened after the race in Monaco needs to be reviewed because from a standpoint of fairness for all competitors, the fact that the penalty was removed introduces some significant elements of concern,” Stella said.
“The second aspect is the interest of McLaren. We got also materially penalised for having served a penalty that is not appealable and this even cost us points in the championship.”
The hearing will take place at FIA headquarters without public or media access because of confidentiality requirements, the governing body said. A decision will be published as soon as possible.
The outcome will determine whether Gasly keeps his Monaco podium or Hadjar is restored to third place.
