Onboard footage of Pierre Gasly's cooldown lap after the Monaco Grand Prix has been circulated online after the Frenchman lost his third-place finish due to penalties, which has split fan opinion.
The video shows the Alpine driver celebrating his hard-fought podium for the entirety of the cooldown lap, despite the penalty having stripped him of the result.
Multiple drivers were hit with penalties for speeding in the pitlane during the race around the streets of Monte Carlo. The Enstone outfit has submitted a right of review petition to the FIA, arguing that the volume of infractions points to a technical discrepancy rather than driver error. But as it stands, Gasly has lost the position to Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.
Fans were confused by the moment. While some argued that Alpine had not informed its driver of where the penalties would place him, others thought Gasly was aware but was celebrating that he had been able to get to third on the road.
"Considering he got both of his penalties before the red flag restart, I'm shocked he didn't know about them," one fan commented, while another added: "He drives straight into the pits instead of the grid with no direction from his engineer, surely he did know? probably just happy it was a good result on track (pit lane was honestly bs)."
Pierre Gasly celebrated his podium all the way around the cooldown lap, but Alpine didn’t tell him about his penalty
by u/FerrariStrategisttt in formula1
"Well, that's just cruel," someone else posted, and another fan commented: "He knew about his penalties. His RE told him. He was p***ed during the red flag due to it. He just wanted to celebrate crossing the line third."
Gasly shared his heartbreak in an Instagram post after the race.
"I’m heartbroken right now… no words can describe the pain of losing a podium in Formula 1 and in the streets of Monaco, I’m devastated," he wrote.
"We crossed the finish line in 3rd today, and that's all I want to remember. I’ve dreamed about that podium thousands times, we all working very hard for years to achieve moments like today and it doesn’t feel right for it to be taken away like this. I really hope the right outcome can be made. We will fight for it with my team."
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