Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has called for the FIA to look for “remedies” for George Russell’s points-less Monaco Grand Prix, after Pierre Gasly’s third place was reinstated by Formula 1‘s governing body.
The Frenchman was handed back his podium finish, after being handed two five-second time penalties for pit lane speed excess, handing the trophy to Red Bull and Isack Hadjar.
Gasly’s Alpine team gathered evidence, with the help of additional evidence from other teams, to successfully win its Right to Review process, which saw Gasly’s penalties rescinded.
The circumstances of Gasly’s penalties and the timeframes involved means that other teams could not lodge a similar request, but Motorsport Week understands that McLaren and Red Bull have confirmed their intention to appeal the overturning of the result.
Russell’s race was a disaster, being handed a similar penalty, which was not served in the first instance, which required the Brit to complete it after the restart, leaving him out of the points in 13th place.
Speaking to media, including Motorsport Week, Wolff confirmed the Silver Arrows were indeed looking at all the options, and conveyed regret that those options are now low.
“Well, it was a very unfortunate situation,” he said, “and clearly we can all learn from that, because that wasn’t something that just came up on Sunday, that suddenly 10 cars that were in breach of peak lengths speeding, something that was flagged before.
“For us as a team, and especially for George, massive implications. We had a bit of a qualifying session, but he moved all the way back up there, and clearly without the penalty, without us not serving him correctly, it would have been a totally different outcome for his race, whether he would have been at the podium or just not.
“It was a different question, but a different outcome would have had an impact on his championship situation. And that’s why it’s unfortunate.
“Now, we are assessing as we speak what the Gasly situation does for George. Obviously, were there certain timing restraints, we wouldn’t appeal the Gasly result, certainly, but we would like the FIA to look at what could be the remedies for George’s race.
“And I think we have some timing limitations and some other legal constraints, but definitely we have a reason to be annoyed for, and I wish we could have had those conversations before the race on Sunday.
“It’s been a frustrating few races for George.”
Wolff admits long shot to overturn Russell penalty but says Mercedes will ‘give it a go’
When asked for clarification on his comments, Wolff stated that he had spoken to Mercedes’ lawyers about the situation, and would indeed try to do whatever possible to help his driver’s result be altered.
“We were on the phone with our lawyers to look at what can we do for George,” he said. “Drive-through, if it didn’t happen at the end is equivalent of 20 seconds [of] race time.
“What would 20 seconds race time mean for his result? Do we think that we realistically have a chance of reverting the result? I don’t think so.
“I think we have to give it a go if we see that there is a millimetre of chance to do so and bring him back to whatever it was before with calculations.”
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