Jun.12 (GMM) Pierre Gasly’s hopes of recovering his lost Monaco podium are still alive after the FIA agreed to reopen the case.
The Alpine driver crossed the finish line P3 in Monaco but never climbed the stairs to the podium as he was dropped to P7 with two 5-second penalties for pitlane speeding.
Now the stewards have ruled that Alpine’s petition for a right of review is admissible and will proceed to a second hearing on Friday.
Crucially, the FIA accepted there was a “significant and new element” that was unavailable to the stewards at the time of the original decision.
According to documents, Alpine argued that both Formula One Management (FOM) knew before the race there was an issue with the pitlane timing system. Multiple drivers were penalised for the same offence, including Mercedes’ George Russell.
Alpine submitted evidence suggesting Gasly activated his speed limiter before entering the pitlane and remained below the 60kph limit.
Alpine’s submission stated: “FOM, as Official Timekeeping Supplier to the Competition, provided evidence that the distance used in calculating the F1 Official Timing (and hence the pitlane speed) was inaccurate and overestimated the speed of Car 10.”
The FIA noted that confirmation of the inaccurate distance measurement was only provided by FOM on the Wednesday after the race.
During the race itself, the stewards had already become concerned after a series of pitlane speeding infringements.
They queried race control about possible problems with the system.
“Race control reported back that it raised the matter with the official timekeeper and was reassured that there were no issues,” the stewards revealed.
Gasly was originally penalised for speeds of 60.1kph and 60.4kph.
The Frenchman admitted on Thursday that losing the Monaco podium was “the toughest day of my Formula 1 career”.
For now, however, Gasly is remaining cautious.
“I don’t want to say too much until the hearing is over and the team has spoken with the FIA,” he said.
“They have worked hard and done their best to gather the new evidence needed to change the verdict.”
Teammate Franco Colapinto also backed the team’s position.
“In Monaco you could cut a little bit the left kink of the pit entry,” the Argentine explained. “Looks like, due to a matter of distance, we looked over speeding, but we were not.”
If Gasly’s penalties are overturned, the biggest loser would be Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who inherited the final podium position.
“Honestly, the most frustrating thing would be losing the points for third place,” he said.
“I experienced the feeling of being on the podium, that’s the most important thing and no one can take that away from me.”