Gasly Restored To Monaco Podium

Pierre Gasly has been reinstated to third place in the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix after FIA stewards upheld Alpine’s Right of Review and rescinded two five-second penalties for alleged pit lane speeding.

Alpine Wins Its Review

The decision overturns both penalties handed to Car 10 during the race, removing a total of ten seconds from Gasly’s final time and forcing the Monaco classification to be amended.

Alpine had argued that the pit lane speed readings were flawed because the distance used to calculate speed in the first timing zone of the Monaco pit lane did not reflect the shortest route available to drivers in 2026.

The stewards agreed. After reviewing fresh evidence from the Official Timekeeper, FIA representatives and Alpine, they concluded Gasly had not exceeded the 60km/h pit lane speed limit.

Timing Loop Discrepancy Proves Decisive

The case centred on the first timing zone after pit entry. The Official Timekeeper had used a distance of 2692cm between the first two timing loops. However, subsequent LIDAR analysis found a theoretical shortest distance of 2615cm, 77cm shorter than the figure used for the speed calculation.

That difference mattered. According to the stewards’ findings, if the shorter distance had been applied, Gasly’s two alleged offences would have been calculated at 58.7km/h and 58.8km/h rather than above the 60km/h limit.

The stewards also noted that Monaco’s pit entry barrier layout had changed between 2025 and 2026, potentially allowing drivers to take a different and shorter trajectory than in previous years.

Stewards Reject Penalty Basis

While Alpine’s own post-race measurements with a trundle wheel were largely disregarded due to tolerance concerns, they did not contradict the Official Timekeeper’s LIDAR-based evidence.

The stewards were clear that the regulation refers to a speed limit, not simply to a speed as determined by the official timing process. Their task, therefore, was not merely to check whether the system had produced a report, but whether Gasly had actually exceeded 60km/h.

Their answer was unequivocal: he had not.

Other Drivers Remain Affected

The ruling does leave an awkward aftertaste. Six pit lane speeding reports were issued during the Monaco race, including Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Franco Colapinto, Oscar Piastri and Gasly twice. All were in the same first timing zone.

However, the stewards stressed that Alpine’s petitions related only to Gasly’s two penalties. Other drivers either served their penalties during the race or did not lodge a Right of Review within the permitted time.

That means the FIA cannot simply unwind every affected strategy. Monaco being Monaco, five seconds can be annoying; ten seconds can be a sledgehammer.

Gasly Gets His Podium Back

The revised result restores Gasly to the podium position he held when he crossed the line, handing third place back to the Alpine driver and recalculating both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship points.

Alpine will also receive back both deposits paid for its Right of Review petitions.

The classification is now final, subject only to appeal, but the wider question is obvious. If Formula 1 is going to police pit lane speed to tenths of a kilometre per hour, the measuring system must be beyond reproach, particularly in a place as geometrically awkward as Monaco.

Related: 2026 F1 Champion Standings

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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