Laurent Mekies has hinted that Red Bull are set to follow through on their intention to appeal the stewards' decision to cancel Pierre Gasly's penalties and change the result of the Monaco Grand Prix. That decision was made in Barcelona on Friday, five days on from the race, when the stewards upheld Alpine's claim that the system measuring pit lane speeds was clearly faulty.
Gasly was one of five drivers who was penalised during that race for pit lane speeding, but his penalty was the only one subject to appeal. That was because it was unserved by the end of the Grand Prix, and also because Alpine was the only team which exercised its Right of Review.
Still, the outcome left teams up and down the paddock surprised and annoyed. One Mercedes source told Express Sport that the team was "absolutely furious", given George Russell was one of those found guilty of pit lane speeding in the Monaco race, and team principal Toto Wolff confirmed that, having spoken to lawyers, he had written to the FIA to request a Right of Review of their own.
Teams had an hour after the stewards' decision to expunge Gasly's penalties to give notice of their intention to appeal. Both McLaren and Red Bull did so, buying themselves 96 hours to pore over the stewards' conclusions and the F1 regulations themselves to see if they could find grounds for appeal.
Whether or not they will be able to make a strong case remains to be seen but, even if they feel they cannot win, Red Bull team principal Mekies suggested he will try anyway. "We have not yet submitted the full appeal – we have a bit of time for that," the Frenchman said after Sunday's Barcelona race. "But we think it's more so a matter of principle for the good of the sport, in order for the sport to get the right clarity on how we go about non-appealable penalties during the race, and getting the right results at the end of the race."
"No measurement system is perfect. There is not one single way to measure the speed, and they are all wrong. However, we have been working with that measurement system for a very high number of years – it was the same as the day before, the same as on Friday, the same as the previous years, and we have all adapted to it. And 17 or 18 cars have managed to be legal, so we just need to make sure that as a sport we have a solid enough approach, so that moving forward we get the right clarity to the fans and for the competitors."
