Race control told Toro Rosso to stop Pierre Gasly’s car as it sprayed oil around the track during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Gasly eventually retired due to the oil leak from his Honda power unit. However FIA race director Charlie Whiting revealed the team were instructed to pull his car off the track.“We asked the team to make him stop,” said Whiting. “His engineer was still giving him blue flag messages and not addressing the fact that the engine was about to expire.
“Once we told him, Pierre pulled off and that was okay.”
Max Verstappen was running behind Gasly at the time. “The last few laps were not that easy as there was a Toro Rosso leaking oil onto my helmet,” he said. “I couldn’t really see where I was going.”
Esteban Ocon also retired while oil was leaking from his car, but Whiting said they weren’t concerned about a potential build-up of oil on the track.
“I suppose he could have pulled off a little earlier,” said Whiting, “but he tried to get back to the pits as we saw. I think it was all okay.
“We weren’t aware of any oil on the track. There may have been some oil in there in the smoke which was probably a minor inconvenience by comparison with oil on the track.
“Marshals are more focused on making sure that there’s no oil on the track, that’s what they’re trained to report to us. Obviously if an engine’s dropping oil on the track we would ask the team to stop the car immediately.”
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2018 F1 season
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JohnH (@johnrkh)
26th November 2018, 10:13
Just a snippet of next yr? :))
Hopefully it won’t be that bad.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th November 2018, 10:16
And Ricciardo (behind Max) might have been chuckling at the foreshadowing of 2019 that Max was getting :-) @johnrkh
BlackJackFan
26th November 2018, 17:09
Except it won’t be Max’s helmet that receives the oil… ;-)
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2018, 10:26
Why didn’t he retire into the pit lane? He had every chance to enter the pit lane to retire there rather than on trackside as the problem appeared before he had reached the final corner/pit entry and yet he still didn’t use his chance same as with Hartley in Austria.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
26th November 2018, 12:15
Yes, it is strange the team didn’t retire the car in more considerate manner when it started emitting smoke and oil, especially as it seemed obvious he wasn’t going to make it to the end of the race.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th November 2018, 14:33
Definitely strange, more so when he had both cars from the big team just behind him – @jerejj @drycrust
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
26th November 2018, 10:41
It was very odd. The way he kept going full blast on the straights, not just with his engine breaking, but with blue flags. Gasly seems to have a typical Red Bull hard-head. Next year may be interesting.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th November 2018, 10:54
@hahostolze – and using DRS! He was in full race mode, even if his engine wasn’t.
Agreed re. 2019, I look forward to more sparks than the RBR’s floor at Yas Marina.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th November 2018, 11:06
@hahostolze
Agree. He had the pedal to the metal inspite of his breaking to bits. Was quite ridiculous if you ask me. He just spread oil all over the circuit and was racing pointlessly for half a lap. Maybe he should take the gentleman’s route and just park his car when that happens in the future.
Really silly.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
26th November 2018, 11:30
And he cost his half-team-mate a serious shot at Vettel at that point (regardless of whether or not he would have made it)
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
26th November 2018, 11:47
@phylyp @hahostolze
Too right, I thought it was Red Bull that gave him the order to stop!
So bizarre. He knew there was smoke too
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
27th November 2018, 2:07
@hahostolze it will be interesting – the way he was driving must have Horner and Marko thinking that the Honda engines might not really be Red Bull’s big issue of 2019! This pairing could make the Vettel/Webber incidents look like a friendly encounter…
Todfod (@todfod)
26th November 2018, 11:06
*his engine
Todfod (@todfod)
26th November 2018, 12:42
Honda went through 10 power units on Gasly’s car throughout the year. So much for progress.
It was the number I predicted in pre season, but even I actually didn’t think they would hit the target, especially with the kind of freedom Toro Rosso gave Honda in terms of packaging and cooling.
It’s crazy to think that finally Red bull has started to hit their sweet spot in the hybrid Era and they’re switching to Honda power for next season. It’s going to be a difficult year for Max in 2019.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2018, 15:32
@todfod Many of the grid-penalties were taken for tactical reasons, though, rather than due to reliability.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th November 2018, 16:32
@jerejj
I feel that’s a bit of a myth. Honda had as many engine updates as Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. It wasn’t like they were adding something on the engine every 2nd race weekend.
They prevented a lot of the failures on track by changing them in advance, and they even reverted to older specs (in Mexico). I actually think they did a decent job of disguising their poor reliability for an entire season.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th November 2018, 13:47
THat has been what we have been hearing again and again from, first, McLaren and then from STR @jerejj. Sorry, but by now I feel like @todfod does, that it’s just talk to cover up for the horrible state their reliability is in.
We can only hope that next year things improve, but then, hope dies last, eh.
Gary
26th November 2018, 15:51
I personally believe Red Bull Honda will be a big surprise too many next year.
They’ve used Toro Rosso as guinea pigs this year for all their engine upgrades; and it appears that they’ve made significant progress.
Mick
26th November 2018, 23:02
Progress? Where?
They have boasted about extracting 60 extra HP but they finish behind ALO in the wounded McLaren more often than not. Hulk and Sainz consistently finish ahead of them with the Renault power plant.
Maybe they will turn in around next year but it’s beginning to look like RBR will get a dose of what McLaren did – unkept promises.
I think it will be justice if RBR gets a taste of what McLaren did. Their patience will be much less than McLaren, especially with Max at the helm.
Could be entertaining.