Pierre Gasly is under investigation for allegedly exceeding the fuel flow limit during qualifying.
FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported the Red Bull driver “had exceeded the maximum allowed fuel mass flow of 100 kg/hour when doing the fastest lap” during Q1.Gasly set the fastest time of any driver in Q1. He has already been ordered to start the race from the pit lane after he was found to have missed the weigh bridge during qualifying.
Subsequent to that he was given a five-place grid penalty for having his gearbox changed, though that has no effect on his starting position.
If Gasly is found to have exceeded the maximum fuel flow rate, which is stipulated in the F1 Technical Regulations, the likely penalty is exclusion from the session. Daniel Ricciardo was excluded for exceeding the maximum fuel flow rate during the 2014 Australian Grand Prix and the same happened to Esteban Ocon in last year’s United States Grand Prix.
Gasly said the team hadn’t increased the power on his engine during qualifying as they wanted to save it for the race.
“It was nice to end Q1 in P1 but knowing we’re starting from the pit lane tomorrow, the most important thing was just to get a feel of the car on low fuel,” he said. “It felt really good and it’s probably the first time this year I’ve felt that good in the car, so I’m really happy. I felt confident and I’m always working and trying to adapt myself, and it’s working step by step.
“I think we’re going in the right direction and overall it was a positive qualifying session. We didn’t expect that kind of pace because we didn’t turn the power unit up, we went into race mode to save some engine mileage and in the end the performance was good.”
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Adam (@rocketpanda)
27th April 2019, 19:10
Lol, during the off season did Gasly break a load of mirrors or something?
Jere (@jerejj)
27th April 2019, 19:51
Well, his starting position already is what it is for an entirely different reason, and was a guarantee even before the qualifying session, so, therefore, this is going to make any difference whatsoever to that. He’s already got the worst possible starting position for the race, LOL.
Lauri (@f1lauri)
27th April 2019, 21:22
Red Bull testing with Gasly if such things get noticed by FIA or not.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
27th April 2019, 22:26
Maybe, I thought it was interesting how his revs keep climbing in top gear, despite what should be dropoff due to lack of sufficient fuel flow to the engine
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
28th April 2019, 3:46
The revs won’t drop off. they will just build at a reduced pace. Full flow is full power and until you reach terminal velocity, the revs will keep going up, not “drop off”.
Opening the DRS has a surprisingly dramatic effect on the revs too.
We should see some interesting DRS assisted passing in the race.
Question … what the heck is going on at McLaten, Carlos S. has the fastest speed trap and Lando N the second slowest.
Yet Lando had a slightly faster lap time and only 2 tenths slower in sector 3.
Guess speed isn’t everything.
erikje
28th April 2019, 11:22
Gasly had the perfect tow. Maybe that had some dramatic consequences for the fuel flow.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
30th April 2019, 21:26
@f1lauri Red bull could have saved some bother and checked why Esteban Ocon got disqualified from last year’s American Grand Prix…
F1oSaurus (@)
28th April 2019, 10:27
Did Red Bull do this on purpose perhaps? They knew it wouldn’t cost them and this would be a good place to test what happens with a bit of extra fuel flow. Might have been interesting for Honda to see some data?
Or perhaps they wanted to instill the fear into the other teams of what Verstappen might be able to do, when in reality Verstappen wasn’t actually taking part in Q3 much.
I just don’t believe that Red Bull by accident went over the fuel flow limit. Or rather, I don’t see how this could happen by accident.
MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
1st May 2019, 1:18
They could easily check that on the dyno if they wanted to.