Alpine clears first hurdle in bid to overturn Monaco penalties

Thursday, 11 June 2026 at 19:10

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - JUNE 07: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A526 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on June 07, 2026 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Sam Bagnall/Sutton Images)

Alpine cleared the first hurdle in its attempt to overturn pit lane speeding penalties that cost Pierre Gasly a Monaco Grand Prix podium, with FIA Formula 1 stewards agreeing there was significant new evidence warranting a review.

Stewards said Alpine's petition for review was admissible in both cases and accepted that a "significant and relevant new element" had emerged that was unavailable when the original decisions were made during Sunday's race in Monaco.

The case has now progressed to a second stage, with a virtual hearing held on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

The Renault-owned team argued in written submissions that both the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) were aware before the race of an issue affecting pit lane timing loops, although the stewards were not informed at the time.

Alpine also presented data showing Gasly activated his pit lane speed limiter before crossing the pit entry line and remained within the prescribed speed limit throughout the pit lane.

According to the team's submission, FOM, acting as the championship's official timekeeper, provided evidence suggesting the distance used to calculate the official timing data was inaccurate, resulting in an overestimation of the speed recorded for Gasly's car.

Gasly's P3 on the road disappeared

The French driver crossed the finish line third in Monaco, a result that would have delivered both his first podium of the season and a landmark finish for Alpine.

However, two separate five-second penalties for pit lane speeding dropped him to seventh in the final classification. The original steward decisions found Gasly had exceeded the 60 kph pit lane speed limit by marginal amounts, recording speeds of 60.1 kph and 60.4 kph.

Several drivers were penalised for similar infringements during the race weekend, but Gasly's penalties proved particularly costly.

The 30-year-old expressed his frustration after the race, saying he was "absolutely heartbroken" by the outcome: "To have a lifelong dream of a Monaco podium taken away from me for reasons which I just cannot comprehend."

The review process will now determine whether the new evidence is sufficient to warrant revisiting the original penalties and potentially altering the Monaco Grand Prix result.