McLaren reveals ‘double intent’ as FIA hearing held over Monaco GP controversy

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said its hearing at the FIA International Court of Appeal is about more than just McLaren. The “fairness” and “integrity” of the sport is at stake.

The hearing revolves around Alpine’s successful quashing of Pierre Gasly’s pit-lane speeding penalties back at the Monaco Grand Prix. McLaren were one of the teams left unable to follow the same route. While the saga cost McLaren points, Stella says his team also wants to safeguard the sporting future of Formula 1.

McLaren ‘double intent’ in FIA hearing explained

Initially, Gasly was dumped out of the podium places at Monaco, after a pair of five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding were applied after the chequered flag.

However, as Gasly had not served those penalties in-race, Alpine had the opportunity to appeal. The team was successful, and Gasly reclaimed his Monaco podium.

It emerged that an error in the pit-lane timing loop calculations had caused a series of false positives. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Gasly’s Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto and Mercedes’ George Russell were also penalised in-race for pit-lane speeding.

However, Gasly’s penalties were the only ones that could be appealed, as he did not serve them at a pit stop.

McLaren headed to the International Court of Appeal in response to the Monaco penalty controversy. The hearing was held at the FIA’s headquarters in Paris on August 25.

Speaking with PlanetF1.com and others following the Dutch Grand Prix, Stella explained the dual-purpose behind McLaren’s hearing.

“We go to the hearing at the International Court of Appeal with, if you want, a double intent,” he said.

“The first intent is more general than the interest of McLaren.

“We think that the process that happened after the race in Monaco is a process that needs to be reviewed, from fairness for all competitors.

“The fact that the penalty was removed introduces some significant elements of concern, and we would like to take the opportunity of the International Court of Appeal for a clarification of this aspect.

“There’s obviously more related to this case. It can go into the technical aspects of how the pit limiter speed was calculated. But for me, at the high level, is more the fairness and the principle that needs to be clarified and possibly reinstated, because I think what happened sets some significant concerns.

“The second aspect is the interest of McLaren ourselves. We not only have this level of concern, but we were also materially penalised for having served a penalty that is not appealable, and this even cost us points in the championship.

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“So there is, I think, a general interest for Formula 1 and the sport and the integrity of the sport, and there’s a material interest for McLaren in terms of our championship impact.

“So these are the two points of view, the two perspectives that we would like to pursue and seek clarification for in the coming international Court of Appeal.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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