Alpine Should Not Have Won Their Right of Review

Formula 1 has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons so far this year, and it certainly hasn't gotten better in the wake of the pit speeding fiasco at Monaco. Pierre Gasly was originally assessed two penalties for speeding in the pit lane. After a "right to review", the FIA rescinded both penalties, which I have the unpopular opinion of believing was entirely the wrong call. Let me explain.

Speeding Tickets

How exactly is it possible to speed in the pit lane in F1? After all, the cars are equipped with pit speed limiters for exactly that purpose. The first way would be getting on the button too late or getting off it too early, but that's not what happened here, so we'll gloss over it to focus on the second way, which requires us to explain exactly how pit lane speed is enforced.

Pit road speed isn't enforced using speedometers, GPS, or anything like that. Instead, it's calculated by distance over time. To keep track of timing and scoring on track, electronic scoring loops are embedded in the track surface, which activate the transponder attached to the race car as it drives over them. Likewise, there are scoring loops on pit road as well. Race Control knows how long it should take to cross each loop at pit road speed, and if a car passes in less time, that means they're speeding.

The problem is that drivers were cutting the pit entrance and exit very aggressively, as shown in this Short by F1 Explained. The cars were then driving a shorter distance, meaning they were crossing the scoring loop faster, even if they were technically running the correct speed.

This Isn't New

This is not a new phenomenon. NASCAR in particular runs into this issue frequently at tracks with a curved pit road. Bristol in particular is well known for speeding penalties, but Martinsville and Phoenix have a lot of them as well. When there's a curve, the car on the inside has to go slower than the car on the outside to get the same time on the scoring loops. Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky has a good post on her blog, Building Speed, explaining more in-depth how NASCAR's pit road speed works.

And yet you never hear about NASCAR race control overturning a speeding penalty. The rules are the rules, and the teams are aware of them.

Likewise, in F1, the teams were aware of the risks. Four drivers were penalized in practice for speeding, and drivers were warned pre-race about cutting the pit entrance. And yet five drivers did it anyway. Why exactly do Gasly and Alpine feel entitled to avoiding the consequences of their own mistake, and why did the FIA agree to give it to them?

The Fallout

With Alpine's appeal succeeding, the FIA has opened the floodgates, creating a complete mess of the Monaco results. Red Bull and McLaren have already notified the FIA of their intent to appeal the decision, and Mercedes is launching their own right of review petition.

More than a week since the checkered flag flew on the Monaco GP, and the results still aren't final. What a mess.