U-turn in the Monaco debacle: Mercedes withdraws request for review

Mercedes had actually intended to join its two rivals, McLaren and Red Bull Racing, in challenging the new Monaco Grand Prix result, which came about as a result of Alpine’s successful protest. This is because the French team exercised their ‘right to review’ to have the two time penalties – which had dropped Pierre Gasly from third to seventh place – reassessed.

The Formula 1 veteran had received these penalties for exceeding the speed limit in the narrow Monaco pit lane – a fate he shared with other drivers. However, the Enstone-based team was able to prove that the Frenchman had not been driving too fast at any point and had complied with the 60 km/h speed limit. The stewards had to admit to a measurement error, which is why Gasly was reinstated to third place.

This did not go down well with the competition – particularly with Red Bull Racing, as the Milton Keynes-based team had previously been celebrating third place with Isack Hadjar. Consequently, the team – for which Max Verstappen also races – challenged the new result, alongside McLaren, as the world champion team was also affected by the speed limit time penalty imposed on Oscar Piastri. They consider it unfair that Gasly is, so to speak, being rewarded for not serving his penalties and consequently having them imposed retrospectively – a situation made possible only by the FIA’s ruling, which successfully had the penalties overturned.

Mercedes initially joined the protest lodged by the opposing teams in order to seek clarification, as Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff emphasised in Barcelona. It was a matter of principle, the Viennese manager stated, though he also conceded that the chances of success were slim. That is likely to be the reason why Mercedes ultimately decided to withdraw its request for a review.

For Mercedes veteran George Russell, the speed limit penalty in Monaco had particularly serious consequences. Because his team forgot to serve the penalty during the second pit stop, he was handed a drive-through penalty that knocked him out of the points.

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