Alpine's Pierre Gasly has been stripped of his third place at the Monaco Grand Prix and Isack Hadjar reinstated to third position, the FIA's International Court of Appeal has ruled.
Gasly was one of several drivers given penalties at the Monaco Grand Prix in June over pit lane speeding, but didn't serve them during the race and finished third on track, though he was then demoted by 10 seconds to seventh place because of the penalties.
Alpine won an initial appeal to have Gasly's penalties overturned, giving the team its first Formula 1 podium since 2024. In a decision issued Thursday and made public Friday ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, the ICA has now ruled that would mean judging him differently to other drivers who served penalties.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri now moves up a place to fourth, with Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad fifth and sixth, and Gasly back in seventh.
Alpine expressed “disappointment and frustration with the outcome” and said it believed the team had been “unjustly punished.” McLaren welcomed a ruling it said provided “important clarity for teams.”
The dispute wasn’t just about pit lane speeding, and no one accused Gasly of unsafe driving.
It focused instead on whether the whole penalty system used a wrong measurement for the length of the pit lane, in effect potentially making it appear as if drivers were going faster than they really were.
However, the ICA ruled that changing the benchmark just for Gasly wouldn’t be fair.
“Selectively applying a different post-race parameter to Car 10 would mean that competitors who calibrated and competed against the common benchmark would be judged by one standard, while Car 10 would ultimately be judged by another,” the ICA ruled.
The dispute has put a spotlight on F1’s two most powerful management organizations. Formula One Management oversaw the timekeeping process which produced the speed measurements for the pit lane, while the FIA appointed the stewards who issued — and overturned — the penalties for Gasly.
The ICA said the fallout from the Monaco Grand Prix “may justify changes to FOM’s procedures for future events,” but shouldn’t overturn existing results.
Hadjar is confirmed with his first and so far only podium place since joining the main Red Bull team for 2026. The French driver is currently out with a wrist injury. The Italian Grand Prix is the second race he will miss.
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France attends a news conference ahead of Sunday's Italy Grand Prix, at the Monza racetrack, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Israel has released to Lebanese authorities four prisoners who had been detained by its forces in southern Lebanon. Ship traffic remains low on the Strait of Hormuz days after the U.S. and Iran exchanged attacks for the first time in a month. And fighting has intensified in Yemen between Iran-backed rebels and government forces.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Israel released four prisoners to Lebanese authorities on Friday as part of a deal between the countries, a day after the first was freed. All had been detained by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, where troops now occupy a large swath in the wake of new fighting with Hezbollah that began two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.
Israel on Thursday said it had agreed to release them after Lebanon provided assistance in searching for the bodies of Lebanese Jewish leaders who went missing in the 1980s during Lebanon’s civil war.
Officials said the release comes as a result of U.S. mediation and negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. Another round of talks is expected in Rome later this month.
Those released Friday included two Lebanese citizens and two Syrians who had been captured in Lebanon, according to two Lebanese officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and workers live in Lebanon. It was not clear if the released detainees would be sent back to Syria.
By Fadi Tawil in Tyre, Lebanon, and Abby Sewell in Beirut
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low after the renewed U.S. attacks on targets in Iran earlier this week and Iran's retaliatory attacks in the region, including firing at U.S. Gulf ally Kuwait on Thursday.
Fuel prices are again affected. Diesel hit a record price in the U.S. on Friday, soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time ever.
The benchmark U.S. crude price rose above $91 a barrel with the new wave of uncertainty around traffic on the strait, which Iran continues to use as leverage after six months of war with the U.S.
Iran’s Army spokesperson said Friday that recent strikes carried out by Iran “had both a deterrent aspect and a preemptive aspect.”
In an interview with Iran’s state TV, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akramnia said that since the 12-day war in 2025, Iran has been moving in the direction of preemptive warfare and acting for deterrence, which he said is “permissible” under the United Nations Charter.
“In several cases, before they attacked us and committed aggression, we acted for deterrence, in order to genuinely deter them from aggression,” he said of the United States.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly stated that it carries out retaliatory strikes on its neighboring Gulf countries to target U.S. facilities and interests in the region, and in response to U.S. strikes.
Fighting intensified overnight between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Yemeni government forces along Yemen’s west coast near an important supply route.
An official with the internationally recognized government's health ministry told The Associated Press there were an unspecified number of casualties on both sides in the fighting in mountainous Taiz province. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak with the media. A military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media, confirmed casualties on both sides.
Jabal Nu’man overlooks a major supply route for Yemeni government forces between Taiz province and Mokha, a port city heavily targeted by the Houthis in recent weeks.
The Houthis’ expansion of attacks in these areas appears to indicate an effort to gain full control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea, according to Mohamed Abdelrahman, a Taiz province spokesperson.
Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst on Yemen at the International Crisis Group, told the AP that the Houthis want to take control of the mountains overlooking the coast.
— Ahmed al-Haj in Aden, Yemen, and Fatma Khaled in Cairo
This story has been corrected to show that the name of the Iranian Army spokesperson is Mohammad Akramnia instead of Akrami Nia. The story was also corrected to show that Abdelrahman’s first name is Mohamed, not Moahmed.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman relaxes along the rocky shoreline as commercial vessels lie anchored off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A Red Cross convoy passes a Lebanese checkpoint near the border with Israel in the southern village of Mansouri, Lebanon, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) CORRECTION: A Red Cross convoy, instead of U.N. peacekeeper convoy
A man rests at a waterfront shelter as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
