Oscar Piastri astonished at 'murky' FIA decision: 'Who the hell wants to race like that?'

Oscar Piastri has expressed his astonishment at the FIA's "murky" decision to cancel Pierre Gasly's Monaco penalties and hand him back a podium finish. 

On Friday in Barcelona, the FIA stewards decided that Alpine's Right of Review into Gasly's two five-second time penalties for pit-lane speeding were to be withdrawn, promoting the Frenchman back to third place in which he crossed the line on the road.

However, Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull are all seeking legal action or appeals against the decision owing to the fact that George Russell of Mercedes and Piastri himself, of McLaren, also received the same sanctions. 

It was found that the Monaco pit-lane speed limit timing loops were not accurately measured, with one zone being 77cm shorter than expected, hence the penalties, but Gasly did not serve his penalties during the race. 

Russell, who earned a drive-through for not serving his initial five seconds correctly, eventually finished in 12th whilst Piastri was fourth, before being bumped down to fifth once Gasly's podium was reinstated.

However, no formal mechanism exists in the rulebook to cancel a penalty which has been served and to wipe out its effects, with Piastri within five seconds of Gasly on the road, meaning he would have claimed third.

There is a further twist, in that Russell was third on the road himself when he pitted after the red flag restart to serve his drive-through, meaning he could claim to have also finished in the position. 

Reacting to the decision for the first time publicly, Piastri expressed his astonishment at what had been decided, believing the case could set a "precedent" of fighting in the court-room for results.

"I am pretty mind-blown by the decision, because how can you reverse a decision that was ultimately wrong, but when other people have been penalised for the same thing, and served the penalty in the race?" Piastri spoke to media, including RacingNews365.

"How you can then change one penalty, knowing that probably five or six other races have been impacted by that, is astonishing. So, I mean, you know, I've obviously lost the position, but you can only imagine how George is feeling, so I could not believe my eyes for that.

"I lost the position because I served the penalty, so technically I should be P3, but then technically George should be P3, and the whole thing is now a mess. 

"It's quite the predicament they've got themselves into, and I don't know how you get yourself out of that one, because now the precedent as it is is you don't serve the penalty, you take it to court, wait probably a few months to decide the race, and who the hell wants to go racing like that? 

"Perplexed is the word I will use.

"Before you could say, 'Bad luck, it was wrong,' but it was wrong for everybody, and everyone was treated the same. 

"Now, it's very, very murky. How do you judge that? So, I don't think the race will be cancelled, but it's quite the situation that's unfolded."