Isack Hadjar is officially third at the Monaco Grand Prix following the decision of the FIA Court of Appeal. The Frenchman thanks Red Bull for their fight.
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Isack Hadjar can now fully enjoy his podium at the Monaco Grand Prix. More than three months after stepping onto the third step in Monte Carlo, the Frenchman has officially recovered this result following the decision rendered by the FIA International Court of Appeal.
The Red Bull driver had already experienced the emotion of the podium alongside Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton. But a regulatory battle involving Alpine, Red Bull, and McLaren later challenged the final classification.
The decision made on Friday ultimately reinstates the penalties imposed on Pierre Gasly and thus confirms Hadjar in third place. A result that becomes his first podium with Red Bull and the second of his Formula 1 career.
A podium lost after the revision requested by Alpine
At the finish of the Monaco Grand Prix, Hadjar had inherited the third position after the application of two five-second penalties to Gasly for infractions related to his speed in the pit lane.
These ten seconds added to the Alpine driver’s race time had dropped him back to seventh place, allowing Hadjar to move up to the podium.
The Frenchman had therefore participated in the ceremony and tasted one of the most special moments of his young career: a podium in Monaco under the Red Bull colors.
But Alpine then successfully filed a right of revision. The stewards annulled Gasly’s two penalties, allowing him to regain third place and mechanically pushing Hadjar back.
Red Bull and McLaren appeal the case
However, Red Bull did not accept this new decision. Together with McLaren, the Austrian team decided to take the case to the International Court of Appeal, the highest jurisdiction in motorsport under the authority of the FIA.
The hearing took place in August before the verdict was finally delivered on Friday, on the sidelines of the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
The Court decided to reinstate the two five-second penalties initially imposed on Gasly. The Alpine driver thus falls back to seventh place in the official Monaco Grand Prix classification, while Hadjar recovers third position.
This time, his podium is therefore definitively recorded in the history books.
“It’s even more delicious”
Hadjar has never hidden that, whatever the outcome of the procedure, no one could take away the emotion he felt during the ceremony in Monte Carlo.
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“It’s great to recover this podium,” the Frenchman rejoices after the announcement of the verdict.
“I always said that no one could take away the feeling I had when stepping onto the podium in Monaco, whatever the final result. But seeing it now officially recorded in the history books makes it even more delicious.”
The Frenchman can now associate the memory of this ceremony with an officially recognized result, after having lived for several months with the uncertainty surrounding the classification.
Hadjar thanks Red Bull for their fight
The French driver especially wanted to thank his team for continuing the battle off the track.
Red Bull could have accepted the annulment of Gasly’s penalties after the right of revision obtained by Alpine. Instead, the team chose to pursue the procedure up to the International Court of Appeal to defend their driver’s result.
“A big thank you to Laurent [Mekies] and the whole team for fighting so hard off the track to recover this,” emphasizes Hadjar.
A support that takes on a particular dimension since it is his first podium since his promotion to Red Bull.
“It’s my first podium in these colors,” he recalls.
The second podium of his career
This third place in Monaco also marks the second podium of Hadjar’s Formula 1 career.
Beyond the numerical result, Monaco will inevitably remain special. The Frenchman was able to step onto one of the most prestigious podiums of the season and share the ceremony with the winner Antonelli and Hamilton, second.
For several months, however, he could only keep the experience and memories of that day, since the official classification had then been modified.
The decision of the International Court of Appeal now allows both to be combined: Hadjar keeps the emotion experienced in Monaco and officially recovers the result that accompanied it. A podium that has become, in his own words, even more delicious after the long battle led by Red Bull.
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