(Motorsport-Total.com) – Shortly after the checkered flag fell in Monaco on June 4, 2026, it became clear that the final results might still change, as Alpine requested a Right of Review. Five days later, the final classification was adjusted – but instead of clarifying the matter, this once again opened the door for challenges to the results.
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McLaren and Red Bull lodged a protest, while Mercedes requested another review, with a new hearing scheduled for Saturday.
Kimi Antonelli won the race, Lewis Hamilton finished second. But the fate of the final podium spot remained unclear. Pierre Gasly crossed the finish line in third, but was later demoted to seventh place, allowing Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar to celebrate on the podium – only to be demoted back to fourth place a few days later, with further changes still possible.
So, what’s actually going on here? Could the results change again? And when will all this end?
What actually happened?
An unusually high number of penalties for speeding in the pit lane were issued during the Monaco Grand Prix. Five drivers – including Alpine driver Pierre Gasly twice – received five-second penalties, all for exceeding the speed limit by no more than 0.4 km/h. Five of the six infringements were just 0.1 km/h over the limit.
It was only several days later that it became known that most of these penalties might have been incorrectly issued, after the FOM admitted that the pit lane timing system had been incorrectly configured.
The real problem was that while these penalties were minimal, they significantly affected not only the race result but also the championship fight. Among those penalized was George Russell. What made the situation worse was that the Mercedes driver tried to serve his penalty during the race – but did not do so correctly.
There is a prescribed mechanism in the regulations for serving such penalties. Teams must “lose” five seconds at the driver’s next pit stop. If a driver does not stop again during the race, the same time is added to their total time.
What went wrong for Russell was that he himself decided to pit during a Safety Car period and serve the penalty. However, Mercedes had not expected him to do this and did not follow the required procedure. For this, Russell received a second penalty, this time a drive-through penalty, which knocked him out of the points.
Whose fault is it?
This question is difficult to answer. The FIA is responsible for the sporting side of Formula 1, but in this case, it is essentially the client of the official timing service provider, namely Formula One Management, the championship promoter.
The error occurred before the event, after the configuration of the Monaco pit lane had been slightly changed compared to previous years.
The system measures average speed between timing loops rather than with radar cameras. This approach has proven effective over the years and is generally considered more robust, as it prevents teams from trying to trick the system by briefly braking at the measurement point while still being too fast elsewhere.
In Monaco, however, one of the timing sectors appears to have been configured with the wrong distance, causing drivers to trigger infringements even though they remained below the actual 60 km/h limit. There is also a widespread view that the affected teams bear some co-responsibility.
Teams know how the system works and are expected to build in a sufficient safety margin. During practice and qualifying, there were already several pit lane speeding infringements, so teams theoretically could have reacted by setting their pit limiters slightly lower to avoid being caught by a potentially misconfigured system.
Why was only Gasly’s result revised?
There are two reasons:
Firstly, the FIA Stewards – who are independent of the FIA and only responsible for enforcing the rules – had no formal mechanism to automatically review all penalties. Since only Alpine requested a Right of Review, they could only examine Gasly’s case.
And secondly, the main reason Gasly’s penalties were overturned was evidence from Alpine, including a statement from FOM confirming that the pit stop timing system had been faulty. This evidence only became available on Wednesday after the race, which is why other teams did not immediately challenge the results. For Mercedes and McLaren, it would also have been significantly more complicated to challenge the result.
Russell had already tried to serve his penalty during the race, while Oscar Piastri had served it correctly during a pit stop. In Gasly’s case, the Stewards simply reinstated his original race time. In the other cases, it was much less clear how the consequences of already served penalties could be reversed. At that point, many believed there simply was no practical solution.
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Why are teams protesting now?
Because both the admission from FOM that the system was incorrectly configured and the subsequent decision to overturn Gasly’s penalties surprised many.
The Stewards effectively overturned one driver’s penalties while leaving the others untouched. In their ruling, they explicitly stated that there was no mechanism in the regulations to reverse the consequences for the other affected drivers, as their races had already unfolded differently due to the penalties.
Even if it remains unclear whether there is a practical way to reverse these consequences, rival teams argue that the sole overturning of Gasly’s penalties sets a dangerous precedent.
From their perspective, Alpine benefited from a system error, while others continue to suffer the consequences of the same error. There is also a sporting argument. In Russell’s case, the incorrectly imposed penalty could have cost him a podium finish and a significant number of championship points.
Will other penalties now be cancelled?
That is impossible to answer. The case is becoming more confusing and complicated by the day. The Stewards have already set a major precedent by overturning Gasly’s penalties, and it is difficult to predict what further precedents might follow.
The fundamental problem is that there may be no solution that satisfies all parties. Alpine is happy with the outcome and wants the results to remain as they are. Red Bull wants Hadjar’s podium place back.
McLaren argued that the decision in the Alpine case “risks creating sporting inequality and undermining confidence in the consistent application of the FIA Sporting Regulations.” Mercedes, on the other hand, continues to seek justice for Russell.
Mercedes’ Right of Review has now been admitted for a hearing, and the Monaco Stewards will meet again via video conference on Saturday to hear the team’s arguments. What happens with McLaren’s and Red Bull’s protests – and when – remains unclear.
Isn’t it easier to just cancel the whole race?
Not really. Apart from the fact that the regulations do not provide a mechanism to annul a complete Grand Prix result, this would also unfairly penalize teams and drivers who were not affected by the pit stop timing problem.
Above all, it would penalize Antonelli, who dominated the weekend and deservedly won the race.
Furthermore, there’s another point: Of the 22 drivers who started the race, only five were actually caught speeding in the pit lane. Even if that doesn’t change the fact that the timing system was incorrectly configured, it suggests that it was still possible to avoid the penalties.
Had the teams chosen a slightly larger margin and set their pit limiters a bit lower, they might have been able to avoid the entire controversy.
When will all this end?
Possibly – and hopefully – by the time Formula 1 comes to Austria. Even Saturday’s hearing might not yield an immediate result. The Stewards took a full day to publish their seven-page ruling after Alpine’s successful Right of Review.
The Stewards are dealing with a situation that has never occurred before, meaning Formula 1 is moving into completely uncharted territory. Whatever decision is ultimately made, some parties will likely always be dissatisfied.
With the classification of the Monaco Grand Prix still unresolved almost two weeks after the checkered flag, the case is already developing into one of the longest sporting disputes in recent Formula 1 history.
As one insider put it, the saga “may drag on for months, and the only ones truly winning now are the lawyers.”
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