FIA strips Pierre Gasly of Monaco podium on appeal and promotes Isack Hadjar to third

Court ruling and revised finishing order

The FIA International Court of Appeal decided to strip Pierre Gasly of his third-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, reinstating Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar to the final podium position. The judgment, issued on 3 September 2026 and published on Friday, concluded a three-month legal contest over the classification of the sixth round of the season. The court reinstated two separate five-second time penalties against Gasly, adding ten seconds to his race time and demoting the Alpine driver from third to seventh. Following the adjustment to the final order, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was elevated to fourth place. Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad moved into fifth and sixth place respectively. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli retains the race victory, with Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton confirmed in second place.

The three-month legal dispute

The dispute originated at the Monaco Grand Prix on 7 June 2026, where Gasly crossed the finish line in third position behind Antonelli and Hamilton. Following the race, stewards assessed two five-second time penalties against Gasly for pit-lane speeding infractions recorded at 0.1 km/h and 0.4 km/h over the limit. Alpine lodged a right-to-review petition, leading the track stewards to cancel both penalties on 12 June 2026 after the governing body acknowledged calibration errors in the pit lane speed detection system. McLaren and Red Bull subsequently submitted formal protests against the cancellation of those sanctions. The FIA International Court of Appeal convened a hearing in Paris on 25 August 2026 to review the challenges, issuing its verdict ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Equal treatment rationale and paddock reaction

The appellate judges based their ruling on the principle of equal treatment among all competitors. The court noted that several other drivers received pit-lane speeding penalties during the Monaco race and served them during their pit stops, whereas Gasly did not serve his on track. The judges concluded that the pit lane length measurement used to calibrate the speed detection radar applied uniformly across all cars on the grid, making the cancellation of Gasly's penalties an uneven application of the regulations. The ruling nullified the earlier decision by the Monaco stewards that had cleared Gasly five days after the grand prix. Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore condemned the outcome during a press conference at Monza.

Championship points and constructors standings

The decision revokes the first podium finish recorded by Alpine and Gasly since November 2024, while awarding Hadjar the second podium of his Formula 1 career. The revision costs Alpine nine points in the constructors' championship, where the team is locked in a battle with Racing Bulls for fifth place. In the updated drivers' championship, Antonelli leads with 242 points ahead of Hamilton and George Russell, who are tied on 183 points each. Max Verstappen sits sixth with 112 points, Piastri holds seventh with 106 points, Hadjar is eighth with 71 points, and Gasly drops to tenth with 35 points heading into Sunday's race at Monza.