Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff calls lawyer over Monaco Grand Prix penalty controversy

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Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff calls lawyer over Monaco GP penalty controversy

Mercedes aren't the only team seeking answers from the FIA

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 12 June 2026 18:55

F1 team principal Toto Wolff has revealed talks are underway with Mercedes' lawyers regarding the FIA's decision to change the result of last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Despite the chequered flag being waved to mark the end of the race in the principality five days ago, the final finishing order is still up in the air thanks to a major controversy building around the FIA's pit lane speed limiter.

Five drivers were slapped with penalties for speeding in the pit lane during the main event in Monaco, with many including Lewis Hamilton penalised for going just 0.1km/h over the 60km/h pit lane speed limit.

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Questions were raised even as the 78-lap race was still underway, and it has now been confirmed that there was an issue with the pit lane speed limiter in Monaco, bringing into question the many penalties issued by the stewards.

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What was wrong with the pit lane speed limiter in Monaco?

Ahead of this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, F1's governing body announced their decision to rescind the speeding penalties handed to Pierre Gasly last weekend which cruelly stripped him of a podium finish.

Alpine submitted a right of review to the FIA which led to the reveal that the first pit lane zone was actually 77cm off the required setup distance measurement, which explained why so many drivers were 0.1km/h over the limit.

Following the FIA's decision to change the Monaco GP result, Red Bull and McLaren lodged an intention to appeal on Friday, June 12.

And now, Mercedes boss Wolff is also looking into options to 'remedy' the penalty disaster that ruined George Russell's Monaco GP.

Wolff seeks advice from Mercedes lawyers after FIA reinstate Gasly podium

Russell was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane in Monaco and after failing to serve it correctly in the pits, was handed a drive-through penalty which saw him finish P12 and out of the points.

His already slim chances of taking the title fight to team-mate Kimi Antonelli also took a major hit as a result, knocking him down to P3 as Hamilton jumped up to P2 in the standings last weekend.

But following the penalty controversy, Wolff, Russell and Mercedes are seeking answers.

During Friday's team principal press conference in Barcelona, Wolff was asked to clarify Mercedes' stance on Russell's penalties and the eventual disappointing result that came about because of the FIA decision.

When questioned over whether the team principal was harbouring any hopes of the Monaco GP result being changed to benefit Russell in light of Gasly's penalties being rescinded, Wolff revealed he had already been in contact with lawyers over the issue.

Explaining how a change in result for Russell was unlucky, Wolff said: "Well, I think talk is definitely going forward, but we also need to look at, you know, I just left when we were on the phone with our lawyers to look at what can we do for George.

"A drive-through, if it didn’t happen at the end, is equivalent of 20 seconds race time. What would 20 seconds race time have meant for his result?

"Do we think that we realistically have a position, a chance of reverting the result? I don’t think so, but we definitely have to give it a go if we see that there is a millimetre of chance to do so and bring him back to whatever it was before. We’ve calculated P3 or before."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Mercedes FIA George Russell Toto Wolff Monaco Grand Prix