Oscar Piastri has warned that the fallout from Pierre Gasly's reinstated Monaco Grand Prix podium risks creating a "tricky precedent" for Formula 1, with teams potentially refusing to serve penalties and then "arguing about it for weeks after."
Gasly originally crossed the line third in Monte Carlo, but was handed two five-second time penalties for pit lane speeding, dropping him to seventh in the classification.
Alpine chose not to have Gasly serve the penalties during the race, instead accepting the post-race time addition while preparing a challenge through the FIA's Right of Review process.
That proved successful. Alpine presented new evidence, including data from Formula One Management (FOM), demonstrating that the pit lane distance used to calculate speeds was inaccurate, meaning the timing system had overstated the speeds of drivers passing through.
The stewards accepted the evidence, rescinded both penalties, and reinstated Gasly to third behind race winner Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.
The decision has prompted both McLaren and Red Bull to lodge appeals with the FIA International Court of Appeal.
Red Bull's Isack Hadjar had been promoted to third in the original post-penalty classification, while Piastri dropped a place in the revised result. Both appeals were filed on 16 June and have not yet been heard.
Piastri's concerns
Piastri had already described himself as "pretty mind blown" by the stewards' decision and labelled the situation "murky."
Speaking at the Austrian Grand Prix alongside Gasly, the McLaren driver expanded on his concerns, acknowledging both sides of the argument while flagging what he sees as a significant risk to the sport.
"I think the most obvious one is to make sure the pit lane is measured correctly," the Australian told media, including RacingNews365, when asked what needed to be learned from this episode. "That's a good starting point, obviously.
"I think what is difficult in that situation is that Alpine questioned the penalty. I think everybody questioned the penalties. I've never seen a race like that where there are so many pit lane speeding penalties.
"In my case specifically, I knew I wasn't speeding either, but the approach is always, 'Well, you have the penalty, you can't really argue with it,' in a lot of cases, which I think in 99 per cent of things is a good thing."
Piastri, who was one of five drivers penalised for pit lane speeding in Monaco, served his own penalty during the race.
That decision shaped McLaren's strategy and, ultimately, his finishing position. The contrast with Alpine's approach, deliberately not serving the penalties and then challenging them after the fact, is at the heart of his unease.
Gasly, for his part, has consistently maintained that the Right of Review simply corrected a clear FIA error and restored a fair result, while acknowledging he understands why rivals feel aggrieved.
He has finally received his Monaco trophy, though the situation is far from over with the McLaren and Red Bull appeals still to be resolved.
"I think the risk that we have now is anytime a team or a driver feels that a penalty is potentially wrong or they have a chance of changing it, you go through this whole saga where we still don't officially know the results of the race a month later, which I think is the biggest thing," Piastri added.
"I kind of agree with Pierre's point that if there's something that can be corrected, then I can definitely see why it can be.
"But it also sets a bit of a tricky precedent because you could just end up with everybody not serving their penalties and then arguing about it for weeks after, which is not what anyone wants to see.
"So yeah, a difficult situation with two sides to it, I guess, or probably even more."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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