The Mercedes GP team has decided to appeal the decision to penalize Michael Schumacher in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Schumacher lost his sixth-place finish after illegally overtaking Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the last corner of the last lap of the race. The German was given a "post-race drive-through," which translated into a 20-second penalty that dropped him from sixth to 12th position.
The appeal will be handled by the FIA's Court of Appeal. The FIA said the appeal is strictly against the decision, not the penalty itself, as drive-throughs cannot be appealed.
"With regard to the penalty given to Michael, we believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a safety car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied," said team principal Ross Brawn. "The reason for the safety car had been removed, the FIA had announced 'Safety Car in this lap' early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control. This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained, as in Melbourne 2009. On the last lap, we therefore advised our drivers that they should race to the line and Michael made his move on Fernando for sixth place. We have appealed the decision of the stewards."