
The core issue here is not just Gasly's podium — it's that FOM supplied an incorrect pit lane distance measurement, which means the speed calculations used to penalise multiple drivers during the race were built on flawed data. McLaren's position is particularly uncomfortable: Piastri served his penalty in real time and cannot have it reversed, so the team is now being asked to accept a worse final result because another driver benefited from a process error that Piastri was never given the chance to contest on the same terms. Red Bull faces the same structural unfairness with Hadjar dropping off the podium. The 96-hour window before either team must commit to a full appeal is the key detail — lodging the notification costs nothing and preserves options, so reading too much into it before that deadline passes would be premature.