(Motorsport-Total.com) – After Alpine successfully had Pierre Gasly’s penalties at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix overturned, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has now granted Mercedes’ request for a review of the currently valid race result. Specifically, it concerns the penalties imposed on George Russell. A hearing is scheduled for next Saturday (June 20).
Read more Mercedes: Date for review of George Russell’s Monaco penalty is set
A document published by the FIA on Wednesday confirms that Mercedes has filed a “Right of Review” request, i.e., a review of the stewards’ decision. The now scheduled hearing will take place in two phases.
According to the regulations, the stewards will first examine whether Mercedes can present a “significant and relevant new element” that was not available at the time of the original decision. If this condition is met, the case will proceed to a second hearing, where the core of the challenge will be examined.
This latest development follows the dramatic turn when the penalties imposed on Gasly for speeding in the pit lane were overturned. During the race, several Formula 1 drivers were penalized for allegedly exceeding the 60 km/h speed limit in the pit lane.
Gasly received two separate five-second penalties, which dropped him from third to seventh place in the race result. However, Alpine successfully appealed these penalties after the team presented evidence that the distance used by the official timing system in one of the pit lane sectors was incorrect.
Formula One Management (FOM) acknowledged the problem and admitted that the pit lane timing system in Monaco had been incorrectly set up, whereupon the stewards overturned both penalties and reinstated Gasly to third place.
This decision, in turn, immediately raised questions about the cases of other drivers who had received penalties under the same circumstances. It is currently unclear whether Mercedes is trying to overturn the reactivation of Gasly’s third place, or whether the team is also seeking a review of Russell’s penalty.
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Although the FIA stewards have not yet officially determined that Russell’s penalty was unjustified, the fact that FOM admitted that the timing system was faulty strongly suggests that Mercedes driver Russell may also have been wrongly penalized for speeding in the pit lane.
Russell was initially given a five-second penalty. He then attempted to serve this penalty during a pit stop. However, the stewards later determined that the penalty had not been served correctly. As a result, he received an additional drive-through penalty, which he completed after the final restart.
This sequence caused Russell to fall out of the points, turning a day where he had collected solid points into a pointless result. The consequences, however, extended beyond Monaco, as Russell lost significant ground in the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. The zero-point result was particularly costly in the championship battle against his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Two other teams are said to be challenging the still provisional result of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix. McLaren already confirmed on Tuesday that they have formally appealed the decision to overturn Gasly’s penalties.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was also one of those penalized during the race in the Principality. However, unlike Gasly, he served his penalty during the Grand Prix. As a result, the decision to restore Gasly’s original race time effectively caused Piastri to drop from fourth to fifth place in the results.
While Red Bull has not confirmed appealing last week’s stewards’ decision, it is assumed that this team has also done exactly that to restore Isack Hadjar’s podium finish. Hadjar had originally taken third place after Gasly’s penalties were imposed, but lost that position again when the sanctions against the Alpine driver were overturned.
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To be continued …