Vowles “would support” Red Bull and McLaren appeal over Gasly’s penalties

Williams have offered their support to the two teams planning to appeal against the stewards’ cancellation of Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix penalties.

Gasly was promoted to third place in the classification after the stewards cancelled the two five-second time penalties which the Alpine driver received after the race.

The pit lane speed limit is calculated using the measured distance through the pit lane and the time taken by drivers to pass through it. The stewards ruled Gasly’s penalties should be removed because the pit lane distance used to calculate his speed was measured incorrectly.

However the same penalties incurred by other drivers cannot be cancelled as they served them during the race. In George Russell’s case, he was handed an even stronger penalty for failing to serve his penalty at a pit stop.

Williams team principal James Vowles said he was “surprised we have the reinstatement, being frank about it.”

“It doesn’t really affect us personally,” he told Sky, “he was ahead of us whichever way you do that. Obviously it’s a championship position.

“I think it’s more it creates a bit of a mess now: what do you do with George? What do you do with Piastri that also in that circumstance should have then been on the podium as a result? That’s the mess that I don’t feel comfortable about.”

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McLaren, whose driver Oscar Piastri was among those penalised, and Red Bull, whose driver Isack Hadjar lost his podium finish to Gasly, have served notice of their intention to appeal the stewards’ decision. Vowles said they have “good reason” and “I would support them in that, absolutely.”

While the stewards said the mismeasurement of the pit lane length contributed to the speeding violations, Vowles pointed out teams should still have been able to comply with the rule. Five drivers were also caught speeding during practice, including Williams driver Alexander Albon, which led the team to lower the speed they were driving through the pits to ensure they complied with the rule.

“You can shortcut the pit lane,” Vowles explained. “If you watch onboard, you’ll see they’re not driving within the white lines, they’re driving across the white line, so you’ve shortened the distance.

“If you look back as well at Monaco, we received a speeding fine on Friday and we had a look into it and went, ‘ah, this is what’s happened’ and tuned down our speed limit as a result of it, because that is the regulation.

“However they set it [the pit lane distance], we’re aware of the fact that no one tunes their car’s pit speed limit at 60 kilometres an hour. It’s always below that in function to how you drive.

“My advice to anyone is drive the way you’re going to drive on Friday, Saturday, the way you’re going to drive on Sunday. Don’t change your line, which is what catches you out.”

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2026 Monaco Grand Prix

• Vowles “would support” Red Bull and McLaren appeal over Gasly’s penalties
• Gasly “proud” of FIA after penalties rescinded: “It’s a massive step forward for our sport”
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