Alpine challenges FIA after pitlane penalties strip Gasly of Monaco podium

Alpine has filed a formal Right of Review request with the FIA after pitlane speeding penalties cost Pierre Gasly a podium at the Monaco Grand Prix, dropping him from third on the road to seventh in the final classification. Teammate Franco Colapinto was also penalised for the same offence.

Gasly received two separate penalties for exceeding the 60km/h pitlane speed limit, with 10 seconds added to his race time in total. The Frenchman was blunt in his assessment afterwards. “I know for a fact that what’s in the car is below the 60kph,” he told media after the race. “And I know on both occasions I’ve put it [the pitlane speed limiter] way before the line. That’s probably the most simple setting you can put in a Formula 1 car.”

Alpine’s official statement confirmed the team’s position: “After the result of today’s Monaco Grand Prix, BWT Alpine Formula One Team can confirm it has requested a Right of Review from the FIA following the penalties applied for pit lane speeding.”

The penalties are complicated by the fact that Gasly and Colapinto were far from alone in falling foul of the rule. Lewis Hamilton, who was classified second, also received a pitlane speeding penalty but was able to serve it during a subsequent pit stop under the late-race safety car, limiting the damage to his race. Oscar Piastri and George Russell were among the other drivers penalised, and several teams had already warned their drivers to exercise caution at the pit entry.

Gasly’s second infringement came while he was bunched up in traffic through the pitlane following the safety car deployment, and it is understood the margin above the limit on both occasions was less than 1km/h. “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,” he said.

In Formula 1, the pitlane speed limit is not measured by a single detection point — which would create an exploitable loophole — but is instead calculated as an average speed across the fast lane using FIA transponders and electronic timing loops embedded in the track surface. That system has produced contentious outcomes before: in Singapore in 2009, Sebastian Vettel was penalised despite Red Bull providing data suggesting he had never exceeded the limit, with the stewards concluding he had taken a different line at the pit entry. The result stood.

A further complicating factor at Monaco this year is the modified pit lane configuration, adjusted to accommodate an additional team on the grid. Alex Albon was reportedly warned that the penalties were linked to drivers cutting the line around the Cadillac area, raising questions about whether the new layout contributed to the widespread infringements. Alpine’s Right of Review request will now be assessed by the FIA stewards, who must determine whether new or previously unavailable evidence exists to justify reopening the case.