Following the Monaco Grand Prix, Toto Wolff, Laurent Mekies, and James Vowles remain unimpressed by the FIA’s decision regarding Pierre Gasly
The retroactive podium finish for Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix continues to preoccupy Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. After all, according to the 54-year-old’s interpretation, George Russell would have finished fourth on race Sunday had he not received a drive-through penalty. Instead, the third-place driver in the World Championship is listed in twelfth place.
Formula One Management, the official timekeeper of Formula 1, identified a measurement error in the timing loops in the pit lane following the race in the Principality. Because the shortest distance between the first two loops had been specified as too long, drivers such as Gasly, Russell, and Hamilton were recorded as having an excessively high average speed in that section.
Alpine, for example, was able to prove that Gasly was never faster than the permitted 60 km/h. Based on this finding, the time penalty from the Monaco Grand Prix was rescinded for the Enstone-based team. For Hamilton, Russell, and Oscar Piastri, however, this offers little consolation for now.
No World Championship points for Russell
The problem? Aside from Gasly, all other drivers who, according to the FIA, were going too fast on Sunday had either tried to serve their penalties during pit stops or had to accept a drive-through penalty for failing to execute that procedure correctly.
The latter prevented Russell from finishing in the points in Monaco, as the drive-through penalty cost the third-place driver in the championship roughly 20 seconds, according to Mercedes’ calculations.
When asked whether it wasn’t difficult that Gasly’s penalty was rescinded the following week, Wolff replied into the Sky microphone: “Very difficult, yes. I believe mistakes happen in racing, [but] I don’t know how to rectify that.”
Lack of understanding at Red Bull
Red Bull is also not thrilled with the outcome of the investigation requested by Alpine. After all, the decision cost them a podium finish with Isack Hadjar at the wheel.
“Look, even if we try to take the podium out of the picture, it’s still obvious to TV viewers,” Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told Sky Deutschland.
“You have a penalty that can’t be appealed, and you drive accordingly [to the finish]. So you know which cars around you have that penalty and which ones served it during the race.”
“That’s why it’s always extremely difficult to accept when, after all these non-appealable penalties, it’s ultimately withdrawn. We certainly need to take a closer look at this together as a sport.”
Speaking to Sky, Mekies also emphasized that it is important for fans to know, after the finish, who is actually classified in which position.
In Barcelona, there is already discussion about a possible protest from McLaren and Red Bull. Williams team principal James Vowles also told Sky he was “surprised, to put it bluntly,” by the FIA’s decision.
Support from Williams?
When asked if he would support Red Bull and McLaren in a protest, Vowles emphasized: “Absolutely, I would support [Red Bull and McLaren] in that.”
Earlier, the team principal told Sky: “We received a fine for speeding [in the pit lane] on Friday, looked into it, and realized, ‘Ah, so that’s the problem,’ and lowered our speed limiter. That’s just how the rules are.”
Vowles is referring to the fact that in Monaco, due to the redesign of the guardrails for 2026, it was possible to take a slightly shorter line at the pit lane entrance. The FIA had warned before the Grand Prix that precisely this attempt by the teams could lead to problems. “We know that nobody sets the speed limiter to exactly 60 km/h,” said Vowles.
“It’s always a little bit lower than that, depending on how you’re driving. So my advice is: Drive the same way you did on Friday and Saturday [into the pits] on Sunday as well. Don’t change your line, because that’s exactly what will catch you off guard.”
