Pierre Gasly claims he was “robbed” after he was stripped of his third-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, but says he has confidence in Alpine to fight his cause.
Gasly originally finished third in June’s Monaco Grand Prix, but was demoted to seventh after a post-race time penalty for speeding in the pit lane was applied.
Pierre Gasly reacts after losing Monaco Grand Prix podium
The Frenchman was one of five drivers penalised for exceeding the pit lane speed limit, but he was the only one who didn’t serve his penalty during the Grand Prix.
That opened the door for Alpine to lodge a Right of Review, which the team did successfully when a problem was identified with the FOM-administered timing loops in the pit lane. Gasly was reinstated into third place.
McLaren and Red Bull lodged appeals at the FIA’s International Court of Appeal, which ruled on Friday that Gasly’s initially rescinded time penalties were to be reinstated, costing the driver third place.
“I think we’re being robbed,” he told Canal+.
“I don’t think this is going to end here. It’s pretty clear the speed we had in the pit lane.
“There’s a lot of interpretation, a lot of back-and-forth in the offices, legally speaking, on issues that go beyond the sporting aspect.
“It’s sad to see results decided as a result of this kind of event. On the track, we finished third.
“Yet another twist.
“Anyway, I’m going to let my team handle the rest. I did my best on the track, and now it’s up to them to take the necessary steps and I have confidence in them.”
Gasly doubled down on his claim that he was robbed during a light-hearted social media video as he walked into the Alpine garage ahead of Friday’s first practice.
The Frenchman, who sat out the session as Paul Aron covered one of Alpine’s mandatory young driver sessions, joked that Aron was “robbing my car.”
Moments later, he discovered that his headset was missing from its usual place and added: “My headset should be here. Someone stole it as well.
“So everyone’s stealing everything from me this morning.”
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Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore told the media during Friday’s bombshell FIA press conference that Alpine might consider taking the matter further.
“We’ve been thinking about it,” he said. “Just pass the weekend, and after that we think about it. For the moment, I don’t know.”
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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