Pierre Gasly says he understands why some of his rivals feel a sense of injustice after the decision that promoted him to third place in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Alpine driver crossed the line in third but was initially demoted to seventh following two penalties for alleged speeding in the pit lane. Five days later, after Alpine requested a review, the stewards rescinded those penalties when an error in the original handling was identified.
That reversal, however, did not benefit every driver punished for pit lane speeding during the Monaco weekend. Four other drivers who had served pit lane speeding penalties during the race were not eligible for the same post-race correction because their penalties had already been served before the chequered flag. Two of those teams — McLaren and Red Bull — have appealed the stewards’ decision to overturn only Gasly’s penalty, arguing the change unfairly treated some competitors differently.
Gasly says he accepts the complaints from rivals and recognises why they feel aggrieved, but he also insists that if an error has been made it is right for the authorities to correct it.
“I think for the good of the sport we don’t want to see what happened again in the future,” he said. “There was a mistake made during that weekend and I think it’s important we all learn from it.”
He added that correcting an acknowledged mistake was the proper course of action. “If a mistake was made and can be corrected because it was unfairly given for no wrongdoing, then, in our situation, if you have a chance to correct it I think it’s the right thing for the sport to do. I must say I was very pleased by the actions and by the outcome of the post-race decision.”
At the same time, Gasly expressed sympathy for drivers such as Oscar Piastri and George Russell, whose races were directly affected by pit lane speeding penalties. He understands their frustration and accepts that they may feel the outcome was unjust.
“Obviously regarding McLaren and Oscar, and George’s situation, I completely understand that for their own performance — I’ve got nothing to do with their results — they probably feel some sort of injustice from what’s been done to them,” he said. “That has nothing to do with Alpine or our own race, and I think that’s something they need to address on their side. But I do think if you can correct a mistake which was made, it’s the right approach to go back on it. That’s what I’d like to see in future: ideally we wouldn’t see this situation, but if a mistake is made I think it’s right to correct it.”
Piastri has argued the priority should be ensuring the pit lane is measured and monitored correctly at future events. He warned the decision to reinstate Gasly’s result could set an awkward precedent: if teams believe they can contest penalties after the race and have them overturned, it might encourage others to delay serving penalties in the hope of a later reversal, creating prolonged uncertainty around race results.
“What is difficult in that situation is Alpine questioned the penalty — I think everybody questioned the penalties — I’ve never seen a race like that where there were so many pit lane speeding penalties,” Piastri said. “In my case specifically, I knew I wasn’t speeding. Usually, you accept the penalty and move on, and I think in 99% of cases that is the right approach. The risk now is any time a team or driver feels a penalty might be wrong, you go through this saga where we still don’t officially know the results of the race weeks later. That’s the biggest issue.”
“I can see Pierre’s point that if something can be corrected it should be, but it also sets a tricky precedent. You could end up with everybody avoiding serving penalties and then arguing about them for weeks, which is not what anyone wants to see.”
Gasly confirmed he has received the physical third-place trophy from Isack Hadjar, who stood on the podium after the race following the initial post-race classification. “It looks good at home,” Gasly said. “It looks good in the cabinet and I’m obviously happy to have it back.”
Hadjar, who handed the trophy over, said he was glad to be able to give it to a friend. “I’m happy that I have to give it to Pierre at least,” Hadjar said. “To give it to my friend and not someone else — at least that’s the good part.”
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