Appeal court restores Gasly’s two penalties

Pierre Gasly has been stripped of his third-place finish at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix after the FIA International Court of Appeal reinstated two five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding.

The ruling restores Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar to third place and moves Gasly down to seventh. Gasly loses nine points, while Alpine remains sixth in the constructors’ championship but now trails Racing Bulls by 16 points.

Alpine had successfully challenged the original penalties after concerns emerged that the Monaco pit-lane length had been measured incorrectly. The subsequent appeal court decision concluded that all competitors had raced using the same official distance and speed-limit calculation, meaning the post-race measurement could not selectively benefit one car.

“Selectively applying a different post-race parameter to car 10 (Gasly) would mean that competitors who calibrated and competed against the common benchmark would be judged by one standard, while car 10 would ultimately be judged by another,” the court said.

The court also found that Alpine’s reconstruction of Gasly’s trajectory, based on simulations and video, could not establish the precise distance traveled to the required level of certainty.

Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore criticized the outcome and alleged that FIA judge Filippo Marchino had a close relationship with McLaren, one of the teams that challenged the original decision. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella rejected the direction of the criticism and said the allegations were serious enough to require responsibility from anyone making them publicly.

The FIA courts defended the process, saying the judges were appointed under the organization’s judicial procedures, signed declarations of independence and faced no objections from the parties during the hearing.

The FIA said it would review the methodology of Formula 1’s timing system and related judicial procedures. Alpine is also evaluating whether to pursue a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although the FIA process itself is closed.

Despite the legal setback, Gasly rebounded at Monza by taking a surprise pole position for Alpine before finishing seventh in the race.