Mercedes withdraw Monaco Grand Prix appeal after Gasly review win

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team withdrew its FIA Right of Review request over the Monaco Grand Prix before the scheduled hearing, ending one procedural fight but not the wider argument over how Formula 1 polices its results. The move came after BWT Alpine F1 Team won its own review on June 12, restoring Pierre Gasly to third place and showing how a technical objection can rewrite the official classification long after the chequered flag.

For Mercedes, the point of the appeal was George Russell. His race had been headed toward a likely podium before a penalty sequence dropped him to 12th, and Mercedes argued that the same fresh evidence Alpine used could also affect Russell’s result. The case was not simply about one driver’s frustration, but about whether a timing error at Monaco might have distorted several race classifications at once.

The FIA stewards had already identified the crucial issue in Alpine’s review as a "significant and relevant new element": evidence that the Monaco pit-lane distance used for timing calculations was inaccurate. That finding was enough to overturn Gasly’s original punishment, which had sent him from third to seventh after two five-second pit-lane speeding penalties. The race director’s notes for Monaco had set the pit-lane speed limit at 60km/h, making the exact distance used in the calculations central to the dispute.

The stewards’ hearing materials showed how broad the fallout could be. Alpine, Mercedes, Ferrari, FIA officials and Formula One Management timing staff were all part of the original penalty discussions, a reminder that modern Formula 1 stewarding is as much about measurement and procedure as it is about on-track conduct. When the underlying timing loop is questioned, the consequences can spread from one car to several.

Mercedes withdrew its petition on June 18, a day before the matter was due to be heard. McLaren and Red Bull, however, were still pursuing their own appeals tied to Gasly’s reinstated podium, leaving Monaco’s final order under continued pressure. The episode underlined a hard truth in championship racing: protests are not side issues. They are part of the contest, and sometimes they shape the standings as decisively as the race itself.