Red Bull and McLaren set to appeal FIA’s Gasly Monaco verdict

Pierre Gasly's restored Monaco Grand Prix podium may not be safe just yet, if Red Bull and McLaren have anything to say about it.

Just hours after Alpine celebrated a dramatic FIA decision that returned the Frenchman to third place, fresh controversy has erupted in the Formula 1 paddock, with McLaren and Red Bull reportedly notifying the FIA that they intend to appeal the stewards’ ruling.

The move threatens to reignite the most contentious stewarding debates of the season and could yet trigger another twist in a saga that has already rewritten the Monaco results once.

Teams question FIA U-turn

The controversy began when FIA stewards overturned on Friday two five-second penalties imposed on Gasly for alleged pitlane speeding offences during last Sunday's race.

The penalties had originally dropped the Alpine driver from a podium finish to seventh place. However, a successful Right of Review launched by Alpine uncovered evidence from Formula One Management (FOM) showing a discrepancy in how speeds were measured at Monaco's uniquely configured pit entry.

That finding prompted the FIA to rescind the penalties and reinstate Gasly's podium.

But not everyone in the paddock believes the story should end there.

Several teams have privately argued that regardless of any discrepancy in the official calculations, competitors are ultimately responsible for leaving sufficient margin when driving through the pitlane.

Their view is simple: the system used throughout the weekend was the same system everyone was working with.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu highlighted that the overwhelming majority of the 22-car field completed the race without attracting speeding penalties, suggesting teams had enough information available to manage the risk.

Red Bull and McLaren push back

That argument was also presented during the FIA hearing itself.

Red Bull sporting director Stephen Knowles reportedly argued that the timing process remained consistent throughout the Monaco weekend and that teams had adjusted their own monitoring systems accordingly.

In Red Bull's eyes, the fact that the measurements were not perfectly precise did not necessarily invalidate the penalties. The Milton Keynes squad has particular interest in the outcome.

Gasly's reinstatement cost Isack Hadjar a podium finish, with the Red Bull junior dropping from third to fourth after the revised classification was published.

McLaren also challenged the logic behind altering the result.

Sporting director Will Courtenay reportedly argued that changing the classification after the fact was problematic given that teams had operated under the same timing methodology all weekend.

Ironically, McLaren's own Oscar Piastri was among the drivers affected by the pitlane speed calculations, yet the Woking-based outfit still opposed the revised outcome. Piastri also lost a position when Gasly was restored to the podium.

Appeal clock now ticking

The latest development does not automatically mean a full appeal will proceed.

Under Article 15.4 of the FIA International Sporting Code, competitors have one hour after a decision is issued to notify their intention to appeal.

By doing so, McLaren and Red Bull have effectively secured additional time to analyse the stewards' reasoning and examine whether there are sufficient grounds to formally challenge the verdict.

That process grants a further 96-hour window before a final decision must be made.

For now, Gasly remains Monaco's third-place finisher.

But with two of Formula 1's biggest teams openly questioning the FIA's intervention, the battle over Monaco's final podium places appears far from settled.

What began as a timing discrepancy has evolved into a dispute over principle: should results be rewritten because a measurement was wrong, or should teams be held accountable for operating within the system that existed at the time?

The next move belongs to McLaren and Red Bull – and the Monaco controversy may still have another chapter to run.

Read also: FOM admits to Monaco pitlane timing issues – will improve systems

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