Gasly's Monaco third place reinstated after Alpine successfully appeals pit-lane speeding penalty

Pierre Gasly has been reinstated to third place in the Monaco Grand Prix following a successful appeal by his Alpine team against a pit-lane speeding penalty. The Frenchman had been relegated to seventh position after the race due to a five-second penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit by a mere 0.1 km/h. This incident was part of an unusually high number of speeding penalties issued during the race, affecting several drivers.

Alpine's 'right of review' hearing presented data and arguments that convinced stewards the calculation method used by officials was incorrect. The team established that cars could legally travel a shorter distance within the pit lane than the distance used for the speed limit calculation. Consequently, the stewards accepted Alpine's contention that Gasly had not actually exceeded the 60 km/h limit.

The decision significantly impacts George Russell of Mercedes, who had been moved up to third and then received a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding, dropping him to 13th. Notably, other penalized drivers' teams did not object to their penalties, even if they believed their drivers were innocent. Gasly's teammate Franco Colapinto, Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri also faced penalties. Hamilton's penalty did not affect his second place, while Piastri was dropped from third to fifth following Gasly's reinstatement.

The stewards' report highlighted that five of the six speeding offenses were calculated at just 0.1 km/h over the limit. The report also noted that changes to the pit lane this year had shortened the shortest possible route between timing loops by 77 centimeters. This discrepancy in measurement ultimately led to the reversal of Gasly's penalty.

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Race control promptly came back to the stewards stating it had made enquiries of the official timekeepers and was told that there was no issue and that the data was therefore accurate.