Martin Brundle believes Pierre Gasly’s Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix podium reinstatement is a “mess with no easy solution.”
Five drivers were reprimanded by the stewards at Monaco for pit lane speeding incidents.
Four out of those drivers had served their penalty, expect Gasly. This allowed the Enstone-based team to activate their right to review the penalties imposed on the Frenchman.
The appeal was allowed, thus reinstating Gasly’s podium, who had taken the chequered flag in third but subsequently demoted to seventh after the penalties were added to his race time.
What ensued has been described as a “mess” by Brundle, who gave his two cents on the matter in his Sky Sports F1 column.
Right after Alpine’s right to review was allowed, Isack Hadjar was stripped of his second-ever F1 podium. Now, it is understood that Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes have all filed their appeals against this decision.
“That’s a very complicated and uncomfortable decision,” he wrote.
“Other drivers in Monaco had served their penalties and adjusted strategies accordingly, and Russell’s race was destroyed, but because they were not post-race penalties nothing was changed for them retrospectively in the results.
“This will now be appealed by Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull who all lost out. Ferrari are not too bothered as it cost Mercedes and McLaren points.
“This also sets a precedent of not serving marginal in-race penalties to preserve the right to contest them post-race.
“It’s all a mess with no easy solution.”
Martin Brundle details the “lessons” F1 will learn after Monaco podium fiasco
The controversy started with multiple pit lane speeding offences being reported to the stewards.
As it turns out, the FIA measures the pit lane speed not in the conventional ‘speed on the dash’ method. Instead it uses a timing loop method.
“It turns out one of the timing loops in the Monaco pit lane was 77cm shorter than calibrated hence lots of 60.1kph recordings when the limit was 60kph,” Brundle explained.
The former F1 driver surmised that crucial information was not conveyed by and between the FIA and the stewards.
He believes that while “lessons will be learned” he expects this particular topic of discussion to persist for a while.
“It had been a topic of correspondence since first practices, and some teams adjusted their limiters,” Brundle added.
“There was clearly something amiss with so many identical offences, and it’s surprising that the stewards hadn’t been made aware.
“Lessons will be learned no doubt and the story will presumably run a while.”
While the right to review drama plays out in the background, F1 is getting ready for the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring, scheduled to run in two weeks’ time.
READ MORE – Red Bull explains reasons for appealing lost Monaco F1 podium
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