From one Frenchman to another
We are in Monza but in the F1 paddock the ‘Monaco case’ is still a hot topic, with the final third place of the Monaco GP having changed hands again and returned to Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman from Red Bull was the main beneficiary of the reapplication of the two five-second penalties against Pierre Gasly for speeding in the pit lane; the additional ten seconds sent the Alpine driver back to seventh place, infuriating Flavio Briatore. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies instead believes that justice has been served.
Read more Lamborghini Temerario, a new supercar for the Police
“I am very happy that the court restored Isack’s podium – Mekies told Sky Sports F1 – obviously it is important for Isack, but we also did it because we thought it was important for the sport. I don’t think we really want to race and then have to worry, after the race, whether the speed limit control was correct or not. We believe that in Monaco many cars respected the speed limits [in the pit lane], while some exceeded them. Some of these had already served penalties, others had not. It was important to have a consistent regulation for the races, so we are happy with the court’s decision. That was exactly why we appealed to the Court of Appeal: because we thought it was important for the sport and, obviously, for Isack. It was his first podium with us“.
Mekies’ position
Mekies then also responded to Martin Brundle, former driver and well-known English TV commentator, who asked him if this protest carried out by Red Bull and McLaren up to the FIA International Court of Appeal does not represent a dangerous precedent for F1, opening the door to retroactive changes to results: “I think the opposite is true, Martin – Mekies replied – I think [this ruling] will prevent post-race non-appealable decisions from being challenged, as happened in the case of pit lane speed in Monaco. So I think it’s good news, because it allows you to see the final race result at the moment the race ends“.
Read more Toyota Yaris Cross, new style and it’s only hybrid
“There are penalties that are applied during the race, in various circumstances, for example in case of collisions or speeding in the pit lane – Mekies added – and these penalties are not appealable. We all raced taking these penalties into account. So we knew that Pierre, ahead of Isack, had that penalty to serve and we knew it was not appealable. The fact that it was challenged after the race created a dangerous precedent, because it is a non-appealable penalty and we raced accordingly. So I think it is positive for the fans and for the sport to be able to have even more confidence looking at the final result of a race and knowing it will remain so”.
