McLaren appealing Monaco GP result “with a double intent”

McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andrea Stella says its appeal against the Monaco Grand Prix result, which is being held on Tuesday, stems from its concern for “the integrity of the sport”.

On Tuesday, the FIA’s International Court of Appeal is handling an appeal by McLaren and Red Bull against the result of June’s Monaco Grand Prix, in which several drivers were handed time penalties for exceeding pitlane speed limits, including McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine driver Pierre Gasly.

Afterwards, it emerged those pitlane infractions were false flags, caused by a timing loop error at the start of Monaco’s unique pit entry. All drivers, other than Gasly (and his Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto), had already served their time penalties during the race, while the Frenchman was handed a double five-second time penalty at the flag, demoting him from third to seventh.

After Alpine launched a Right of Review against Gasly’s penalties, the stewards rescinded both and restored the Frenchman’s podium berth, which demoted Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar to fourth and also bumped Piastri down the order.

As a result, both McLaren and Red Bull launched an appeal procedure, because they took issue with Gasly’s penalty being rescinded while other drivers, including Piastri, had no such opportunity.

Anticipating the hearing, which takes place across Tuesday but could potentially drag on for longer, McLaren boss Stella said the team was both looking after its own interest in the constructors’ standings and the interest of the series in general.

“We go to the hearing at the International Court of Appeal with a double intent,” Stella said on Sunday after the Dutch Grand Prix. “The first intent is more general than the interest of McLaren.

“We think that the process that happened after the race in Monaco needs to be reviewed because 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.

“There’s obviously more related to this case. It can go into the technical aspects of how the pit limiter speed was calculated. But for me, at a high level, it’s more the fairness and the principle that needs to be clarified and possibly reinstated.”

He added: “The second aspect is the interest of McLaren ourselves. We were also materially penalised for having served a penalty that is not appealable and this cost us points in the championship.

“So, there’s a general interest for Formula 1 and the integrity of the sport. And there’s a material interest for McLaren in terms of our championship impact. 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.”

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– The Autosport.com Team