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McLaren and Red Bull have taken Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix podium reinstatement before the FIA International Court of Appeal, with the governing body’s highest appellate tribunal hearing both teams in Paris on Tuesday.
The closed-door hearing means the arguments remain confidential, and a decision is not expected for as many as two to three weeks. The case centres on the stewards’ decision to overturn the five-second time penalty imposed on Gasly and restore his third-place finish from the race weekend in the Principality.
The appeal follows a complicated pit-lane speed-limit dispute. Gasly and five other drivers, including Oscar Piastri, were judged to have breached the limit and received identical five-second penalties. While the other drivers served their sanctions during the race, Alpine kept Gasly on track, allowing the penalty to be added to his final race time instead.
As a result, the Frenchman—who had finished third on the road—was initially removed from the podium. However, Alpine was the only team able to lodge a protest because Gasly’s penalty had not been served during the race.
Alpine’s case was strengthened by the FIA’s concession that an erroneous timing loop had misread the relevant metrics for the other drivers as well. The stewards subsequently reversed Gasly’s penalty and reinstated him to the podium, a decision now being contested by McLaren and Red Bull.
The confidential nature of the proceedings has limited public detail about the arguments presented. According to Planet F1, one central submission was that the stewards had exceeded their authority by altering the race classification when they reinstated Gasly’s result.
If that account is accurate, it could become decisive for the appellants. The International Court of Appeal has previously addressed the powers of stewards and the tribunal itself in an appeal involving Optimum Motorsport in the International GT Open Championship.
The dispute also follows a separate report on the case, McLaren and Red Bull take Gasly’s Monaco penalty case to the FIA appeal court, which detailed the challenge to the stewards’ ruling.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team had both a sporting and broader reason for pursuing the appeal.
“The first intent is more general than the interest of McLaren,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week at Zandvoort. “For me, at the high level, is more the fairness and the principle that needs to be clarified and possibly reinstated.”
He added that McLaren also had a material championship interest. If Alpine loses the case, the team will have no further avenue to challenge the decision.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.