The FIA International Court of Appeal has heard the appeal filed by McLaren against Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Formula 1 podium reinstatement.
The Monaco podium saga may finally be put to rest after the governing body’s highest appellate tribunal heard the appeal filed by the Woking-based team on Tuesday.
The controversy arose when an errant timing loop erroneously detected drivers including Oscar Piastri and Gasly to have breached the pit-lane speed limit.
Piastri dove into the pits again to serve his five-second time penalty, but Gasly opted to stay out, taking the chequered flag in third.
That said, as the Frenchman had not served the penalty, Alpine were able to successfully challenge the same once Gasly was bumped off the podium post-race.
McLaren weren’t granted the same liberty, as they had essentially ‘confirmed’ its legitimacy by serving it. However, the team did challenge Gasly’s podium reinstatement before the International Court of Appeal, in Paris.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week, at Zandvoort, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella explained the team’s “double intent” behind the same.
“We go to the hearing at the International Court of Appeal with, if you want, a double intent,” he said.
“The first intent is more general than the interest of McLaren. We think that the process that happened after the race in Monaco is a process that needs to be reviewed, from fairness for all competitors.
“The fact that the penalty was removed introduces some significant elements of concern, and we would like to take the opportunity of the International Court of Appeal for a clarification of this aspect.
McLaren cites the “general interest” of F1 behind its FIA appeal
Stella did concede the fact that all the drivers had been, in fact, penalised incorrectly.
But the Italian argued that selective redressal had only made an unfair situation worse for the teams and drivers.
He pointed out how the “general interest” and “integrity” of the sport were at stake and depended on the eventual verdict of the FIA.
“There’s obviously more related to this case. It can go into the technical aspects of how the pit limiter speed was calculated,” Stella explained.
“But for me, at the high level, is more the fairness and the principle that needs to be clarified and possibly reinstated, because I think what happened sets some significant concerns.
“The second aspect is the interest of McLaren ourselves. We not only have this level of concern, but we were also materially penalised for having served a penalty that is not appealable, and this even cost us points in the championship.
“So there is, I think, a general interest for Formula 1 and the sport and the integrity of the sport, and there’s a material interest for McLaren in terms of our championship impact.
“So these are the two points of view, the two perspectives that we would like to pursue and seek clarification for in the coming international Court of Appeal.”
As per the regulatory framework of the FIA, the decision of the International Court of Appeal will be binding and final on all the parties, and will not be open to further appeal before the French civil courts or CAS.
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