Gasly loses third place in Monaco after today’s Court of Appeal decision
The final order of the troubled Monaco Grand Prix ends with a new, sensational reversal. The FIA International Court of Appeal has in fact restored Isack Hadjar to the third place earned in the race, accepting the appeal filed by McLaren and Red Bull against the decision that had initially penalized Pierre Gasly. Many penalties were handed out during that Grand Prix for excessive speed in the pit lane and it later emerged that these penalties stemmed from the nominal measurement of the pit lane length on which the speed was calculated.
Read more Volkswagen, between layoffs and closures there is no peace
The Alpine driver, who finished third at the finish line, had been demoted to seventh place after the application of two five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane. Alpine subsequently obtained the right to review the decision, after an error emerged in the measurement of the pit lane length by the official timekeeper, thus managing to cancel the penalties. A decision that promoted Gasly to the podium and pushed Hadjar out of the top three.
Today, with the verdict of the Court of Appeal, the situation returns once again to the original order: the penalties on Gasly are reinstated and the Frenchman loses third place to the Red Bull driver.
The dispute between Briatore and Stella
The decision was commented on today during the team principals’ press conference and in a very sharp way by Flavio Briatore who bluntly accused one of the judges of having personal relations with McLaren which was one of the teams that appealed. These were his words
Briatore: “I think it was a very unfair decision, first of all. We can accept the change of judgment but the very strange thing was the composition of the jury, made up of four judges. One of the judges acted like a public prosecutor. The problem is that we have a nice photo of this gentleman at the speech for McLaren in 2018 at the MSO in Beverly Hills. He has a foundation, called One Drop Foundation and McLaren gave him one of their cars. I think it is not a proper situation when a judge is connected to the group that appealed.
Also present at the conference was Andrea Stella who, hearing his team implicated, responded very sharply denying all accusations:
Read more Ferrari with the modified FTM, McLaren with the inverted wing
Stella: “My reaction concerns the decision of the International Court of Appeal. We have just also released a statement. If you want to talk about this kind of accusations, I think it is not appropriate but anyway my comment is that it is a decision we welcome. It is very important because, first of all, it clarifies the application of article 1.1.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code, which is fundamental for everything that follows. We appealed because we wanted to ensure that this clarity was sought. We had concerns that went beyond the possible loss of two championship points. Probably these two points will make no difference. Our concern was about the application of the principles of equality and fairness in sport. This is important but not only for McLaren, in fact, not only Red Bull filed the request, but all teams were present at the hearing because this was a very important moment. I would say, in terms of clarification on how we apply the rules, how we apply consistency and also, in this specific case, the consistencies related to the methodologies that are valid during race weekends.”
A response that did not convince Flavio at all, who was even more annoyed
Briatore: “It is very nice to talk about points 1.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.4. But what is unfair is that a judge was connected to McLaren. The judge is usually independent. And this judge who has an Italian name, but is American, Filippo Marchino, is a judge who was very unpleasant with us during the hearings and it then emerged that he is very connected to McLaren, even just for charity matters. This is the point and it is surprising. After that, points 1.1, 3.2, 4.5, of the regulation do not interest me.”
Andrea Stella understandably remained firm in his positions, even threatening legal action for the statements made by Briatore in that room
Stella: “I find the direction this press conference is taking quite offensive for McLaren and for the reputation of a team that deserves great respect. Anyone who makes such accusations, which seem quite serious, will have to take responsibility for what they say publicly. The hearing and the entire process at the International Court of Appeal was conducted according to the highest standards and we should not question this case as has been done now.”
We will see if the issue of Gasly’s disqualification in Monaco will bring further developments. Briatore did not rule out considering further actions by Alpine on this decision.
Read more Official: from February 18 to 20, 2027 Milan will be the capital of F1 with ‘F1 Live Milan’
