McLaren, Red Bull lodge intent to appeal Pierre Gasly's Monaco GP podium reinstatement as Mercedes mull options

McLaren and Red Bull have lodged their intention to appeal against the decision to reinstate Pierre Gasly back to the Monaco Grand Prix podium.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, meanwhile, said his team would “like the FIA to look at what could be the remedies” for George Russell’s race last Sunday in wake of the details revealed in Alpine’s successful right of review case against Gasly’s own pit-lane speeding penalties.

On Friday morning, Gasly returned to third place for last Sunday’s race after Alpine successfully overturned the French driver’s two speeding penalties by presenting evidence which the stewards agreed was a “significant and relevant new element” regarding an incorrect distance calculation in the pit lane.

As a result of the successful appeal, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri were bumped down to fourth and fifth, with Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad down to sixth and seventh.

McLaren and Red Bull were two of eight teams who sent representatives to the Alpine hearing with the stewards and the FIA.

Red Bull argued the pit lane timing was consistent throughout the weekend and the teams adjusted their own systems to adapt to the possible risk of discrepancies, which had been flagged following Friday’s practice sessions in Monaco.

McLaren’s representative said there was a “well-known risk of discrepancies in the pit lane speed calculations” which teams adjust for and coach their drivers to manage.

McLaren and Red Bull lodged their intention to appeal within the one-hour window teams have to notify the FIA regarding stewards’ decisions.

They now have another 96 hours – until Tuesday afternoon – to lodge an official appeal.

‘We have a reason to be annoyed for’ – Mercedes consider their options over Russell

Mercedes title contender Russell was one of five drivers – Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine team-mates Franco Colapinto and Gasly being the others – who collected five-second time penalties for pit-lane speeding during the Monaco race.

Russell’s race unravelled when Mercedes failed to serve his sanction as the rule dictates when he next made a pit stop, a breach that proved costly given stewards subsequently imposed a more severe drive-through penalty on him.

Running third on the road ahead of Gasly at the time after a late red flag which had bunched the field up, Russell slipped out of the points once he had driven back through the pits to serve that sanction and was eventually classified 12th.

Alpine were the only team to submit a right of review challenge, concerning Gasly’s penalties only, before the expiry of the allowed window. In-race penalties served during a race, of which Russell’s was one, cannot be retrospectively undone by stewards, as the Monaco panel noted in their verdict on Friday.

Featuring in Friday’s team principals’ press conference in Barcelona, Wolff said he had been in discussion with Mercedes’ lawyers to see what, if any, options they had open to them.

“I just left when we were on the phone with our lawyers to look at what can we do for George,” said Wolff.

“A drive-through, if it didn’t happen at the end, is equivalent of 20 seconds race time. What would 20 seconds race time have meant for his result? Do we think that we realistically have a position, a chance of reverting the result?

“I don’t think so, but we definitely have to give it a go if we see that there is a millimetre of chance to do so and bring him back to whatever it was before.”

Wolff said the whole episode in Monaco was “a very unfortunate situation” and one which the sport needed to learn from in future.

Russell’s tumble out of the points also meant he slipped a massive 68 points behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship.

Wolff added: “For us as a team, and especially for George, massive implications. He had a difficult qualifying session, but he moved all the way back up there, and clearly without the penalty, without us not serving it correctly, it would have been a totally different outcome for his race.

“Whether he would have made the podium or just not is a different question, but a different outcome would have had an impact on his championship situation. And that’s why it’s unfortunate. Now we are assessing, as we speak, what the Gasly situation does for George.

“Obviously, there are certain timing restraints. We wouldn’t appeal the Gasly result, certainly, but we would like the FIA to look at what could be the remedies for George’s race.

“And I don’t think that there is… I think we are having some timing limitations and some other legal constraints, but definitely something to… You know, we have a reason to be annoyed for.

“And I wish we could have had those conversations before the race on Sunday.”

Sky Sports F1’s Barcelona-Catalunya GP schedule

Saturday June 13
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday June 14
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP reaction: Chequered Flag
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Spain for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with live coverage on Sky Sports F1. Sunday’s race starts at 2pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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