McLaren F1 boss says Monaco Grand Prix result appeal is about the 'integrity' of the sport

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FIA

McLaren boss says Monaco Grand Prix result appeal is about the 'integrity' of F1

An increasingly tangled mess

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Tuesday 25 August 2026 22:00 Updated: 22:15

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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has claimed that his team and Red Bull's appeal against the result of this year's Monaco Grand Prix is about nothing less than the integrity of the sport.

The teams went to the FIA's International Court of Appeal on Tuesday to dispute the result of June's race, which was won by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

The issue centres around a number of penalties handed out during the chaotic race for pitlane speeding, including Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Pierre Gasly. All of the penalties were served in-race except for Gasly's, who had two five-second penalties added to his time at the end of the race - dropping him from third over the line to seventh.

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However, it was later discovered that the speeding offences had all been caused by a timing loop error at the start of the pitlane. Alpine submitted a Right of Review against their driver's time penalties, which were removed - pushing him back up to third and knocking Red Bull's Isack Hadjar off the podium, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri also demoted.

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The apparent unfairness of Gasly's penalties being the only ones to be lifted because of the error has rankled with some, as the likes of Piastri and Lewis Hamilton were effectively punished for serving their mistaken penalties in-race.

That counts double for George Russell, who not only served his five-second penalty but also a subsequent drive-through penalty for incorrectly serving his pitlane speeding punishment.

Russell finished out of the points in 12th, thanks to a series of events kicked off by mistakenly applied penalties - which one, and only one, driver avoided serving.

Russell eventually finished 12th after a penalty-laden race.

Why are McLaren appealing Monaco Grand Prix result?

Stella explained that his team have two motivations for their appeal this week, saying: "We go to the hearing at the International Court of Appeal with a double intent. The first intent is more general than the interest of McLaren.

"We think that the process that happened after the race in Monaco needs to be reviewed because 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 a high level, it's more the fairness and the principle that needs to be clarified and possibly reinstated."

Stella: Appeal is for McLaren, but also sporting integrity

He added: "The second aspect is the interest of McLaren ourselves. We were also materially penalised for having served a penalty that is not appealable. And this cost us points in the championship.

"So, there's a general interest for Formula 1 and the integrity of the sport. And there's a material interest for McLaren in terms of our championship impact. 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."

F1 Red Bull McLaren Monaco Grand Prix Andrea Stella