Alpine requests FIA review of Monaco GP pit lane speed penalty as Pierre Gasly left ‘heartbroken’ after missing podium | F1 News

Alpine has requested a right of review from the FIA ​​over penalties applied for pit lane speeding after their driver Pierre Gasly was demoted from a podium finish during the Monaco Grand Prix.

Gasly was among an unusually large number of drivers to exceed the 60 km/h pit lane speed limit in Monaco, with two separate infringements by the Frenchman for the same offense resulting in a pair of five-second penalties which dropped him from third to seventh.

Gasly was among several drivers to question the reason for the penalty after the race, saying he was “heartbroken” and urging the FIA ​​to investigate the situation.

Shortly after the race, a statement released by Alpine said: “Following the results of today’s Monaco Grand Prix, the BWT Alpine Formula One team can confirm that it has requested a right of review from the FIA ​​following the penalty applied for pit lane speeding.”

Alpine will have to present the FIA ​​with new evidence relevant to the sanction that was unavailable at the time of the stewards’ decision, if they are to hold further hearings.

talking Sky Sports F1 After his resignation, Gasly said: “I’m just heartbroken right now to be honest. I don’t have words. I have too many emotions to process. I can’t get my head around what happened. It doesn’t feel right.

“Triple checking with the team that they set the correct speed in the car. In both cases, I put the pit limiter way before the line.

“We are all working very hard for these moments. 10 years I do this, 10 years I try to seize every opportunity, I have five podiums, which is nothing in my career. And we pass the road in third position in front of all the French people and it is taken away from us. At this moment, I don’t know what to say.

“I hope they can look into it and make the right decision. I said it from our side, I know I didn’t do anything wrong and I was 200 percent sure I was ahead of the line. The team set the right pace from what they said, and hopefully they can investigate it.

“But it won’t give me that moment. I’m just looking at the podium and I definitely feel like I should have been there. The team will definitely fight it. It’s nine points we’re missing, one podium. I have no idea.”

Russell: Obviously a problem with the pit-lane software

Gasly’s assessment that a podium was stolen from him failed to take into account that Mercedes’ George Russell, who ran ahead of him, also had his race ruined by the same penalty.

Despite being penalized for speeding during his first pit stop, a late safety car was on his way to a fourth-place finish before Russell set off a disastrous chain of events for Briton as Lance Stroll crashed.

Mercedes brought Russell under the safety car but instead of abiding by the rules by not touching his car for the first five seconds, his mechanics immediately began changing the tyre, giving the Brit a more serious drive-through penalty which had to be served within three laps of being issued.

This meant that after a standing restart in the closing stages, Russell had to pit and drop out of the points, continuing a torrid run that saw him 68 points behind his team-mate Kimi Antonelli at the top of the standings.

Like Gasly, Russell questioned the FIA’s pit-lane technology.

He said Sky Sports F1: “First of all, I’m not sure why we got a penalty because I was on the pit limiter before the line. I left it after the line. But obviously there’s a problem with the software and a lot of drivers got penalties.

“Well, five seconds, not ideal but not the end of the world. And then in the pit stops, just big distractions, and getting a drive-through (penalty) – the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. So, P3 to P14.”

After Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari out of the race on an early safety car restart during a red flag stoppage, Russell met the stewards to urge them to consider a less severe penalty.

Russell explained: “I just asked, ‘Can we review it later?’ Because I said, ‘If I serve drive-thru now, the race is over.’

“And I’m willing to serve the five-second penalty on the following lap. I was 20-seconds behind Gasly. I probably gained a tenth of a second through the pit lane with that software error and lost 12 positions because of it.

“(They said) the rules are the rules, if you don’t get fined, it’s a drive through.

“I don’t really know what to say. It’s two races in a row – could have won the race last week, maybe P3-P4 today, it’s 40 points down for things out of my control.”

HAMILTON: I wasn’t over the speed limit

Lewis Hamilton insists he was not over the speed limit despite being the other driver to be penalized for the offence.

Hamilton’s penalty cost him second to his team-mate Charles Leclerc but Ferrari opted to pit both their cars at the same time – and allow Hamilton to serve his penalty – with the seven-time world champion at the front under the safety car.

Leclerc, frustrated by his team’s decision, then crashed on a rolling restart, leaving Hamilton to take a comfortable second at the end.

Reflecting on his penalty, Hamilton said: “I wasn’t fast enough. I think it’s just like the pit lane.

“I’ve done this pit lane for years. It’s not like I come in and push a button or anything like that. The pit lane limiter goes on immediately and I think it’s just the line you take, which is the same line we’ve all taken for years, where you come in, you cut a section of the white line.

“Head down, went out and I was shocked to hear that I was speeding because I wasn’t actually over the speed (limit).

“I think it’s the distance and something that we really need to look at because I heard a lot of people got it today and they probably weren’t really up to speed.

“Having to make a stop and wait for five, 10 seconds, whatever people have got, it destroys you on a short track, as far as your chances are concerned. I was thankful that it didn’t stop me too much.”

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