Alpine is challenging the Formula 1 penalties from Monaco with a request for review: New data is expected to reopen the case
Formula 1 team Alpine has filed a “request for review” (English: Right of Review) with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) because it “does not understand” the two time penalties imposed on Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix. Alpine team principal Steve Nielsen explained this after the race.
Nielsen said: “We also don’t understand why so many teams were affected. I believe there were a total of six violations: three from our team, one from Ferrari, one from McLaren, and one from Mercedes. That is very, very unusual.”
“You would normally expect to see that many over the course of an entire season. Instead, we saw them in just a single race. That is why we have filed a so-called request for review with the FIA.”
What Alpine hopes to gain from the review
The key point here is that Alpine can present new, relevant data and evidence during this process. “We can then sit down with the FIA to understand exactly how they came to the conclusion that we exceeded the speed limit in the pit lane. Because we believe we did not do so.”
“At the same time, however, we are open to being convinced otherwise if we actually made a mistake,” Nielsen explained. “So it’s about an open exchange with the FIA about what we could have done differently—or perhaps also about what the FIA could have done differently.”
This distinguishes the request for review from a protest or an appeal. A team can file a protest if it suspects a rule violation. If, on the other hand, it considers a decision by the Stewards to be incorrect, it can bring the case before the FIA Court of Appeal. In this specific case, Alpine is merely requesting a review.
No timeline yet for Alpine decision
However, it remains unclear when the FIA will revisit the Gasly case. “That will likely take place in the coming days or perhaps even weeks,” said Nielsen. “Time will tell how the matter develops.”
The world governing body has since ruled out a technical error in the speed measurement in the pit lane.