Gasly reinstated to Monaco podium after F1 officials admit timekeeping blunder

By Luke McLaughlin at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya • June 12, 2026 • Sport

Pierre Gasly has been reinstated to the Monaco GP podrium after F1 stewards rescinded penalties for pitlane speeding over a measurement error

A tangled legal and regulatory mess was developing at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Friday after Pierre Gasly of Alpine was restored to the Monaco podium, with the FIA conceding his pit lane speeding penalties last Sunday were incorrect. Alpine’s successful appeal, in which they demonstrated the official speed measurements were inaccurate, prompted McLaren and Red Bull to notify the FIA of their intention to appeal against Gasly’s reinstatement. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was knocked off the podium by his fellow Frenchman, who had initially been demoted to seventh after the finish. Mercedes said they were assessing their legal options after George Russell’s season took another hit in Monaco via a now discredited five-second pit lane speeding penalty and a further drive-through sanction when the first penalty was incorrectly observed. Russell, who went fastest in the first practice session in Barcelona on Friday, has endured an appalling run of luck, but his Monaco experience has deteriorated further in view of Alpine’s successful appeal. On Thursday, Russell said any such verdict would be a “kick in the balls”. “It was a very unfortunate situation,” Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, said on Friday of the erroneous pit lane penalties for Russell. “For us as a team, and especially for George, there are some implications. Without the penalty, without us not serving it correctly, it would have been a totally different outcome for his race. “Now we are assessing, as we speak, what the Gasly situation does for George. We would like the FIA to look at what are the remedies. Definitely, we have a reason to be annoyed.” Wolff added: “We were just on the phone with our lawyers to see what we can do for George.” Looming counter-appeals present a potential regulatory nightmare for the FIA. Of the five teams punished for pit lane speeding in Monaco, only Alpine requested a right of review. Gasly’s post-race sanction made it possible to remedy the situation relatively simply compared with the other four drivers who were punished during the race: but Alpine would surely have appealed, regardless, after such a strong result. The implications now threaten to be more far-reaching. Hadjar’s demotion puts McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fifth with the Racing Bulls duo, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, also dropping a place. Alpine said: “We would like to thank the FIA and Formula One Management for its transparency and co-operation throughout the right of review process and for reaching this decision.” “WE GOT IT BACK!! P3 in Monaco!!” Gasly posted on social media. “Been a rollercoaster of emotions the last few days, weird celebrations, but most importantly, incredibly happy we got our result back.” The FIA’s written decision drilled deep into events in Monaco: a key detail was that, during the race, stewards had been unaware all the alleged infringements were in the same timing zone, which would have strongly indicated them as attributable to an error. “The stewards note that in relation to other cars that were penalised, some served their penalty and this, regrettably, impacted their race strategies and therefore their race result,” the FIA said in the appeal verdict. However, it said that while it sympathised with the other drivers, there was no way to “undo” penalties already served. Formula One Management, who are responsible for race timekeeping, admitted an error with the FIA ruling outlining a 77cm discrepancy in the pit lane measurements that caused an error in judging the speed of cars. Alpine’s managing director, Steve Nielsen, said on Friday that an “alarm bell” had sounded when the team’s data did not support the penalty. “Ninety-times out of 100 when you get pinged for pit lane speeding you don’t even question it,” he said. “Some guy comes on the radio and says ‘you can see it in the data’, and you just take the penalty. This time was different. It wasn’t in our data. That’s the biggest alarm bell for us.” Back on the track, Kimi Antonelli, Russell’s championship-leading teammate, skipped first practice and finished fifth in the later session. Russell was second, sandwiched by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Piastri. Antonelli is aiming for six victories in a row on Sunday. No driver who has won five consecutive grands prix has failed to go on and win the title; the list includes luminaries such as Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Ayrton Senna is notably absent from the list and when recent comparisons to the Brazilian great were put to Antonelli, he said: “I don’t feel like I should be compared to someone who has made history in the sport. I haven’t done even a single bit of what Senna achieved.”

Source: The Guardian