Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has spoken out on Pierre Gasly’s reinstated Monaco Grand Prix podium, which has taken away Isack Hadjar’s third place in Monte Carlo.
Multiple drivers were handed penalties for allegedly speeding in the pitlane in Monaco. While the majority of those drivers served their penalties during the race, Gasly did not, so the time penalty was added after the race. The penalties dropped the Frenchman from P3 to P7, promoting Hadjar to third place.
Alpine launched a Right of Review, and the podium was later reinstated after it was confirmed that the French team had been able to provide sufficient evidence that had not been available to the stewards at the time, proving Gasly was not speeding.
Following the reinstatement of the podium, McLaren and Red Bull indicated their intent to launch an appeal and Mercedes confirmed it was in discussions with its lawyers. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Hadjar and Mercedes’ George Russell were all affected by the penalties.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 during the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend, Mekies explained: “First, I hope Isack enjoys the right first podium with us in Monaco, because he drove very well there.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“I think we are a bit confused, not so much because you lose the podium or you win the podium. We are a bit confused because at the end of the day, we are talking about non-appealable penalties, and you are racing around cars that are receiving non-appealable penalties, and you adapt your racing also to that.
“Some cars actually served their penalties there. I think regardless of what we think as a team, and we defend our competitive positions, I think it is very important for the fans that we get moving forward with the right clarity about the race result at the time when the race is finishing.”
The stewards stated at the time of the reinstatement: “The stewards note that in relation to other cars that were penalised, some served their penalty and this regrettably, impacted their race strategies and therefore their race result.”
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