Alpine Clears First Hurdle in Gasly Monaco Appeal: Here’s What Happens Next

FeedzyAlpine have passed the first stage of their Right of Review hearing over the pit lane speeding penalties that erased Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix podium, with stewards ruling that the team’s new evidence clears the bar required to trigger… Read More
Alpine have passed the first stage of their Right of Review hearing over the pit lane speeding penalties that erased Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix podium, with stewards ruling that the team’s new evidence clears the bar required to trigger a full second hearing.
Gasly’s demotion from third to seventh therefore remains in flux, with a further hearing now to be scheduled at which the original penalties will be fully reconsidered.
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The team moved quickly after the race, with mechanics photographed measuring the pit lane with a trundle wheel in the hours after the chequered flag. The physical distance data gathered that evening, combined with onboard telemetry tracking Gasly’s actual speed through both pit entries, forms the foundation of their case – and has now been accepted as sufficiently new and relevant to reopen proceedings.
Alpine’s case targets a specific gap between what the rulebook says and how the FIA actually polices it. Article B1.6.3(a) of the 2026 Sporting Regulations sets a speed limit. Not a minimum time between two points. Not a computed average over an assumed distance. A speed limit.
In practice, the FIA measures pit lane speed by calculating average speed from the time taken to pass between sensors in the track. At Monaco, a slight curve at the pit entry can be straightened slightly by drivers who carry a touch wider on the right, driving that is legal.
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Taking that shorter path reduces the actual distance travelled.
The timing system does not know this. It divides its expected distance figure by the recorded time and produces a speed reading above 60km/h, even if the car itself never got there. Alpine’s telemetry, the team maintains, shows that Gasly’s car was at or below the limit throughout both entries.
It is worth noting that Sebastian Vettel made the same argument after Singapore 2009, with identical supporting data, and called for “a speed limit, not a speed distance limit.” His penalty stood.
Four other drivers, Lewis Hamilton, Geroge Russell, Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto, they were caught by the same issue and none contested their penalties. Those results will not change regardless of what happens to Gasly. If his penalties are ultimately lifted, the sport will have to reckon with that inconsistency publicly.