Mercedes seeks to reverse Russell’s Monaco GP penalty after FIA recognizes errors in speed measurements
The Mercedes team filed an official request with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to reassess the outcome of the Monaco Grand Prix, an event held on June 7. This initiative by the German team comes shortly after Alpine driver Pierre Gasly successfully secured a similar request for his own punishment.
Initially, the French driver had completed the race in third place. However, he was penalized with an additional ten seconds for exceeding the permitted speed in the pit lane, which dropped him to seventh place and took him away from the podium celebration. The FIA subsequently accepted Alpine’s review request, after Formula One Management (FOM) presented evidence that pointed to inaccuracies in the speed measurement system used in the pit area. This technical inaccuracy, now recognized by the FOM, reveals a critical flaw in the inspection process that could compromise the fairness and credibility of the penalties applied in races, an important precedent for the category.
In a decision announced on Friday (12), the FIA chose to suspend the sanctions imposed on Pierre Gasly, restoring him to third place on the podium, previously occupied by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. The irregularity in the measurement system did not guarantee that Gasly was below the 60 km/h limit in the pit lane. However, the entity, when redoing the calculations based on the new information provided, determined that the punishment originally applied to the pilot was wrong.
Penalties challenged by Mercedes’ George Russell
George Russell, a Mercedes driver, was also subject to temporal sanctions during the same Monaco GP. After being penalized with five seconds, Russell made a pit stop to change tires under the safety car regime. The team, however, did not comply with the penalty at that time, resulting in a “drive through penalty”, which requires the competitor to make another pass through the pit lane.
This punishment resulted in Russell dropping from third to 12th position, leaving the British driver out of the points zone at the end of the race. Additionally, George witnessed his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, cross the finish line first, further increasing his lead in the championship race.
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New evidence and the criteria for reviewing decisions
The regulation establishes that any request for review requires the existence of new elements, which were not previously available for analysis. In Russell’s case, Mercedes argues that both the inaccuracy in the data revealed by the FOM and the decision in favor of Gasly constitute this new evidence.
Despite making the request, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expressed skepticism about the likelihood of the action being successful. “We have sent a letter to the FIA to request a review as well. To be honest, I don’t know if this is a viable outcome as it could open a Pandora’s box,” he told Sky Sports.
Wolff detailed that, usually, failure to comply with a “drive through penalty” results in an addition of 20 seconds to the driver’s final time. “These 20 seconds would put George in fourth place. But what would be the other consequences? I don’t believe this will be accepted by the judges, but it is something we need to do for George’s benefit”, added the team leader.
Other teams such as McLaren and Red Bull also plan to contest results and are expected to refer their respective cases to the International Motorsport Court of Appeal (ICA).
