Monaco GP: McLaren launch appeal against Pierre Gasly penalty reverse

McLaren have lodged an appeal against the decision to overturn Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s pit-lane speeding penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Alpine won a right of appeal review against the penalty and the Frenchman has been reinstalled in third place, having been demoted to seventh.

Governing body the FIA established in the Alpine hearing that the pit-lane speed limit had been miscalculated at Monaco.

A McLaren statement said: “This case raises important questions concerning sporting fairness, regulatory consistency and the integrity of competition.

“Throughout the Monaco Grand Prix weekend – and in every event – all teams operated as perthe regulations and established standard practices for what concerns the speed limit in the pit lane as they were applied at the time.

“Competitors adjusted their procedures accordingly and, where required, accepted and served penalties imposed under those regulations.

“In our view, the subsequent removal of penalties creates a situation in which some competitors are disadvantaged by having acted in accordance with the rules and the Stewards’ decisions.

“Such an outcome risks creating sporting inequity and undermining confidence in the consistent application of the FIA sporting regulations.”

The Gasly hearing turned on the evidence that drivers could drive a shorter route along the pit lane than F1 and the FIA used to measure the speed limit.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was one of four further drivers who were given pit-lane speeding penalties and lost positions as a result.

The Australian was demoted to fifth from fourth with the removal of Gasly’s penalty.

McLaren’s decision to lodge a notification of appeal with the FIA Court of Appeal takes the case to the governing body’s highest legal authority.