McLaren boss Andrea Stella explained in detail the team’s “dual objective” in taking the case involving the decision by the stewards to remove the penalties applied to Pierre Gasly at the Monaco GP to the FIA International Court of Appeal.
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The controversy began at the Monaco GP, when the Alpine driver originally finished in third position but received two five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane. The additional ten seconds dropped Gasly to seventh place in the final classification. Alpine then filed a request for review with new evidence that the distance used in calculating the pit lane speed was incorrect. After reassessing the case, the stewards removed the two penalties and restored Gasly to third position, which took Isack Hadjar off the podium.
However, the decision created a broader sporting problem. Other drivers, including Oscar Piastri, received similar penalties during the race and served the penalties before the checkered flag. Thus, the time they lost could not be recovered later. McLaren and Red Bull then decided to take the case to the FIA International Court of Appeal, questioning the implications of removing Gasly’s penalties after the race.
After the Dutch GP, Stella explained that McLaren’s decision to proceed with the process involves two distinct aspects. The first is related to the interest of Formula 1 as a whole. The team seeks greater clarity about the procedure that allowed the removal of the penalties applied in Monaco and considers that the case raises questions about the need to apply regulations consistently and fairly to all competitors.
“We go to the International Court of Appeal hearing with a dual objective. The first is more general and goes beyond McLaren’s interests. We believe that the process that took place after the Monaco race needs to be reviewed, for the sake of fairness to all competitors,” said Stella.
“The fact that the penalty was removed raises significant concerns, and we want to take the opportunity of the International Court of Appeal to get clarifications on this aspect. There are, obviously, other issues related to the case, such as the technical aspects of how the speed limiter was calculated, but for me, the most important is the issue of fairness and principle that need to be clarified and possibly restored, because I believe what happened raises important concerns.”
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The second point is directly linked to McLaren’s own sporting interests. The team had already served a penalty that could not be contested later, suffering a concrete sporting consequence and losing points in the championship. Therefore, Stella considers that McLaren was directly harmed by the situation and that the case needs to be reviewed again.
“The second aspect is McLaren’s own interest. We not only have this concern, but we were materially penalized for serving a penalty that was not subject to appeal, and that even cost us points in the championship.”
“There is, therefore, a general interest of Formula 1, the sport, and the integrity of the competition, but there is also a material interest of McLaren regarding the impact on the championship. These are the two viewpoints, the two perspectives we want to bring forward and on which we seek clarifications at the next International Court of Appeal hearing.”
According to information from GPblog, it is likely that the decision on the outcome of the hearing will not be released this Tuesday.
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