Mercedes exploring legal options over Monaco GP result

Mercedes is in discussions with its lawyers to see if there are any grounds for it to push the FIA to “remedy” George Russell’s lost points in the Monaco Grand Prix amid the controversy over pitlane speed limit penalties.

Russell’s hopes of a good result in the Monaco Grand Prix were derailed by a pitlane speeding offence during his first stop.

With a five-second penalty hanging over him, a subsequent failure by his Mercedes squad to serve that punishment during a later safety car stop earned him a drive-through that wrecked any chance of a podium finish.

Having been running third when he served his drive-through, the Briton eventually came home 12th.

However, the revelation from Alpine’s successful right of review over Pierre Gasly’s two speeding penalties that Formula One Management made a mistake in its pitlane measurements has cast doubts over the other speeding offences from the Monaco race.

In a stewards' document issued on Friday explaining why it was reinstating Gasly, they noted that there will: “undoubtedly remain questions as to whether those breaches were genuine.

“There is no regulation that gives the Stewards the power to 'undo' a served penalty. In any case, it is impossible to imagine how such power could be applied. Notably, no other party petitioned for a Right of Review within the allowable time frame.”

But even if there appears to be no obvious avenue in the FIA’s International Sporting Code for Mercedes to challenge what happened to Russell and make up for what he lost, that has not stopped them trying.

Speaking at the Barcelona Grand Prix, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that the matter has implications on the championship battle - which is why it is considering its options.

“We are assessing as we speak what the Gasly situation does for George,” said Wolff.

“Obviously, there are certain timing restraints. We wouldn’t appeal the Gasly results certainly, but we would like the FIA to look at what could be the remedies for George’s race.

“I think we are having some timing limitations and some other legal constraints, but definitely [it is] something we have a reason to be annoyed for. And I wish we could have had those conversations before the race on Sunday.”

Wolff explained that he was discussing matters with his legal team, as he suggested that there could be a way for the FIA to deliver a fair result.

“We were on the phone with our lawyers to look at what can we do for George,” he said.

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

“Do we think that we realistically have 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 - P4, we’ve calculated, P3 or P4.”

McLaren and Red Bull have both lodged a notification of their intention to appeal the FIA stewards’ decisions to reinstate Gasly to his podium finish - and have 96 hours to decide if they wish to follow through.