Oscar Piastri Calls FIA’s Reversal of Gasly’s Monaco Penalty ‘Astonishing’

• Oscar Piastri said he was “pretty mind-blown” by the FIA’s reversal of Pierre Gasly’s Monaco penalty, called it “astonishing” and asked, “Who the hell wants to race like that?”
• Gasly had crossed the line third at Monaco, been demoted to seventh by two five-second pit-lane speeding penalties, then reinstated to third after Alpine’s successful Right of Review tied to a timing error.
• McLaren and Red Bull have lodged notifications of appeal with the FIA International Court of Appeal, citing sporting fairness, because their own drivers served the same penalty without it being overturned.

Oscar Piastri has criticised the FIA’s decision to reinstate Pierre Gasly’s third place from the Monaco Grand Prix, reacting publicly for the first time in the paddock at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The McLaren driver said he was “pretty mind-blown” by the call and described it as “astonishing.”

His objection centres on consistency. Gasly had his Monaco penalty reversed weeks after the race, while other drivers who were given the same pit-lane sanction served it during the Grand Prix and saw their results stand. Among them was Piastri himself.

“Who the hell wants to race like that?” he asked, summing up a dispute that has since drawn formal appeals from two teams.

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What the stewards decided

Gasly originally crossed the line third at the Monaco Grand Prix before being demoted to seventh by two separate five-second time penalties for speeding in the pit lane. On the streets of Monaco, where overtaking is extremely difficult, that dropped him out of the podium places.

Alpine subsequently lodged a Right of Review. Under the regulations, that mechanism allows a competitor to ask the stewards to reconsider a decision if a significant and relevant new element comes to light that was not available at the time of the original ruling.

Alpine’s action was successful after it emerged that timing system errors had contributed to Gasly being noted for pit-lane speeding. Formula One Management acknowledged a miscalibration in the Monaco pit lane, an error reported to amount to around 77 centimetres. The outcome was that Gasly was restored to third place.

The complication is that other drivers were penalised under the same pit-lane timing during the Monaco weekend and served their penalties in the race. Only Gasly’s result was changed, and that asymmetry is the basis of the objections that followed.

Piastri’s reaction

Speaking in Barcelona, Piastri set out his problem with the ruling in detail. “I am pretty mind-blown by the decision, because how can you reverse a decision that was ultimately wrong, but when other people have been penalised for the same thing, and served the penalty in the race?” he said.

“How you can then change one penalty, knowing that probably five or six other races have been impacted by that, is astonishing.”

Piastri also warned that the decision risked setting a precedent in which results are fought over after the event rather than settled on track. His “who the hell wants to race like that?” line captured that concern.

His comments carry some context. Piastri is a recent title contender, having finished runner-up in the 2025 championship, 13 points behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who took the title. By his usual standards in front of the media, the criticism was unusually direct.

Why other teams have objected

Piastri was not the only driver affected. George Russell of Mercedes had also been given the same pit-lane penalty at Monaco, as had Piastri at McLaren, and both served it during the race. Reports indicated that Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull were all looking at the decision.

McLaren went on to formally lodge a notification of appeal with the FIA International Court of Appeal. The team’s filing referenced the relevant stewards’ paperwork, including the decision document, the revised final race classification and the revised championship points, and was framed around concerns over sporting fairness.

Red Bull also lodged an appeal against the reversal, pointing to the sporting implications of changing one result when others affected by the same issue were left unaltered. Rival teams lining up behind the same challenge is unusual and underlines how contentious the ruling has been.

An unresolved dispute

For Gasly, the review restored a podium he had originally finished on the road, and the frustration expressed by Piastri and others has been directed at the process and its consistency rather than at the Frenchman himself.

With the appeals now formally lodged, the matter moves to the FIA International Court of Appeal, leaving the final Monaco classification open while the championship continues. Piastri’s public criticism reflects how strongly several drivers feel that the same offence should carry the same consequence, whoever commits it and whenever it is reviewed.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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