Pierre Gasly has been reinstated to third place for the Monaco Grand Prix, with stewards overturning his pitlane speeding penalties. This stunning U-turn denies Isack Hadjar a podium and reshapes the race result days later. The decision hinged on a critical error in F1's official timekeeping system.
The first pitlane timing zone was officially measured at 2,692 cm. However, post-race scanning revealed the actual shortest possible path through that curved zone was only 2,615 cm – a significant 77cm discrepancy. This longer assumed distance artificially inflated drivers' calculated speeds. Based on the corrected distance and Gasly's recorded time, his speed was actually 58.7-58.8 km/h, well below the 60 km/h limit. Stewards had even queried the data mid-race, noting multiple drivers hitting precisely 60.1 km/h. Alpine's review request, backed by FOM's transparency, exposed the flaw. This incident raises serious questions about the precision of F1's timing systems and the potential for future reviews affecting race outcomes.
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