Can open, worms everywhere

Remember how close last year’s drivers’ championship ended up being? Two points separated Lando Norris and Max Verstappen after the final round of the season, a gap that had been 88 after  the Hungarian Grand Prix.

During the summer break 12 months ago, small incidents didn’t appear so significant given the deficit, but they can all add up. And it’s one of the reasons why this year’s Monaco Grand Prix continues to be a fiercely contested race result.

The likelihood is, whatever the final decision is that is reached, nobody will be satisfied.

It was understandable that Alpine wanted to defend its corner after Pierre Gasly missed out on a podium finish in Monaco, having been hit with two separate five-second time penalties for speeding in the pit lane. He was one of a number of drivers to receive such a punishment – Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri were among those who served their penalties during the race, while George Russell was issued a drive-through for failing to serve his correctly during a pit stop.

As soon as the penalties started racking up, questions were being asked whether there was an issue with the monitoring, or if teams had made errors setting their pit lane speed limiters. And not just from fans watching, but from the stewards too, who asked race control if there were any known issues. Race control asked the official timekeeper, who gave reassurances that there were none that it was aware of.

So the penalties kept on adding up, and teams kept having to abide by the decisions being handed out.

When the checkered flag fell, three were three penalties still unserved: two for Gasly, and one for his teammate Franco Colapinto. Gasly and Alpine felt robbed of a special podium moment due to their belief they had slowed enough for each pit lane visit, and wanted those points back after he was demoted to seventh.

Yet the immediate issue with that is the fact that Gasly was only third in the first place because others got the same penalty – such as Russell and Piastri – and took them. So if the penalties were incorrect and hadn’t been applied in the first place, then Gasly wouldn’t have been in a position to have a podium finish.

None of this is a criticism of Alpine, as the team rightly was defending the result that was on offer, but it’s also telling that it didn’t argue against Colapinto’s penalties. It only stood to benefit from getting Gasly’s overturned, even though Colapinto’s was also unserved at the end of the race.

Where the can of worms was first put on the table was when Formula One Management (FOM) – as the official timekeeper – “provided evidence that the distance used in calculating the F1 Official Timing (and hence the pit lane speed) was inaccurate and overestimated the speed of Car 10”. A clear and obvious issue that had caused the penalty in Gasly’s situation, at the very least.

For F1 teams, the competitive calculations extend way beyond what happens on track. Mercedes' decision not to appeal the FIA stewards' decision cost Russell points - but rescindindng Gasly's podium would also mean more points for Red Bull and McLaren. Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

As Alpine was the only team to submit a request for a right of review, the stewards were then only compelled to judge on whether his penalty was correct or not, and duly decided it wasn’t. But it was hardly a surprise to learnt that Mercedes immediately sought a review of that decision, while McLaren has also lodged a notification of appeal with the FIA International Court of Appeal, relating to the Gasly penalties being overturned.

Mercedes has since withdrawn its petition, having felt it tried to keep an avenue open that might have returned Russell to the points.

“Our subsequent collaborative discussion with FIA and Formula One has shown their determination to review the unique circumstances arising from the Monaco Grand Prix and to proactively address the factors that caused them,” the team said in a statement.

“In the face of this clear determination, we have concluded that further pursuit of our Right of Review application will not serve our team or the sport and thus we have withdrawn our submission.”

But like Alpine and every other team, Mercedes will surely also have looked at the situation from a competitive standpoint. Whether it played a role in its final stance on the decision or not, it has to factor in who ultimately stands to benefit based on different outcomes, and should Gasly’s podium be rescinded once again, then Red Bull and McLaren score a greater number of points.

FOM’s admission of inaccurate measurements shows that Gasly was wronged, but that doesn’t detract from McLaren’s point that when it became clear that the speed limit penalties were being handed out even when drivers believed they were below the limit, “competitors adjusted their procedures accordingly and, where required, accepted and served penalties imposed under those regulations.”

Usually on topics such as this, I feel pretty strongly about arguing one side or the other, but in this case I can’t honestly back one outcome.

With so many having served their penalties in the race, the fairest is to have not rescinded Gasly’s punishment, and therefore left everyone dealing with the same set of rules throughout the race, even if it appeared to be inaccurate officiating in terms of pit lane speeding. But to be told you did nothing wrong and received a penalty anyway is never going to fly with any of those involved.

A very clear line needs to be drawn from this situation, whereby all teams and drivers are clear on what would happen if a similar timing issue occurred in future. One option would be the ability to argue penalties post-race and not serve them in the pits, but that creates greater uncertainty over a race outcome when the final lap is complete, and rarely is that good for anyone competing or watching.

The other is to say that unless told otherwise, all decisions from race control and the stewards will be final, and it is on the teams and drivers to adapt to the situation, even when there’s a problem. Sport is imperfect, and reacting to unexpected developments can sometimes be part of the challenge.

Regardless, the final classification of the Monaco Grand Prix will not be one that every team and driver agrees with. Hopefully it doesn’t prove to be pivotal in any final outcomes come December.