Pierre Gasly reckons he’s been “robbed” of a podium in the Monaco Grand Prix after receiving two pitlane speeding penalties that dropped him from third to seventh in the final classification – with Alpine asking for a right to review the pitlane speeding penalties.
The Alpine driver delivered one of the standout drives of the race, climbing from ninth on the grid to cross the line third after overtaking Lando Norris at the start and then passing Isack Hadjar at the final restart.
However, Gasly was handed two five-second penalties for pitlane speeding – one for exceeding the 60km/h limit by 0.1km/h and another by 0.4km/h. Speaking afterwards, an emotional Gasly insisted he had done nothing wrong.
“I don’t think there is anything that could hurt me more right now,” he said. “It’s 10 years I’m fucking working my ass off for this type of moment. We did everything right today [for] standing on that podium in front of all the fans that turned up.
“This is the type of moment that for me can’t be taken away from us by unfair reasons. What’s going on right now is not right and hopefully they can make the right choice.”
While it remains unclear why several drivers were caught out by pitlane speeding penalties during the race – with George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton among those also penalised – one suggestion in the paddock was that it may have been related to the line drivers took when entering the pitlane.
Alpine has announced it will request a right to review the pitlane speeding penalties.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Gasly did not elaborate on the possible cause, but insisted he activated his speed limiter correctly – and well before crossing the line on the pitlane entry.
“I know for a fact that what’s in the car is below the 60kph and I know on both occasions I’ve put it way before the line,” he said. “That’s probably the most simple setting you can put in a Formula 1 car.
“When you have three or four teams that get caught for speeding…hopefully it rings a bell to the guys that they need to check exactly what’s going on because it’s just not right.”
Gasly said he hoped the FIA would review the situation, although he acknowledged nothing could replace the experience of celebrating on the podium.
“They can see on the data,” said the Frenchman. “I just hope whatever they come up with, you can look at the data, you can look at the speed that we are going at. It’s precise enough.
“Hopefully we can fight. It’s not going to give my moment back in terms of celebrating on the podium with the people. But…podium is a podium and it’s been 10 years I’ve been fighting very hard to get every single opportunity. I’ve managed to get five podiums which is not enough if you ask me and I deserve this one. Hopefully they can do something.”
Gasly described the race as one of his strongest performances in F1, having qualified ninth and spent much of the afternoon defending against faster cars.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“I think it’s been, yeah. I wouldn’t call it the best, I’ve had many good drives,” he said. “I feel, again, I’ve managed to put myself where I had to, to seize this type of opportunity.
“Today I managed to get Norris at the start, defend on him for I don’t know how many laps, but that was very intense. Then after getting Hadjar at the restart…it was a good drive and it’s not the way I want to celebrate it.”
Photos from Monaco GP – Sunday
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