Pierre Gasly collected two penalty points on his licence after causing a collision with Fernando Alonso on the first lap of the Turkish Grand Prix.
The AlphaTauri driver went into the first corner with Alonso on his outside and Sergio Perez on his inside. He touched wheels with Alonso, who spun onto the run-off, while Gasly continued.On the radio Gasly said he was “sandwiched” between the two cars. Alonso blamed the AlphaTauri driver for the collision, saying: “What a stupid guy, Gasly.”
The stewards dismissed Gasly’s claim he was squeezed between the two cars and decided he “was predominantly at fault for the collision, as he did not leave enough space for Alonso on the outside.”
“It should also be pointed out that the stewards do not consider this incident as an unavoidable lap one turn one contact between two cars, as Gasly was not sandwiched between two cars when he touched Alonso’s car,” they added.
Gasly now has a total of three penalty points for the current 12-month period. He also served a five-second time penalty for the collision, and finished the race in sixth place.
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2021 Turkish Grand Prix
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bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
10th October 2021, 14:45
Really? That seems very harsh. Pierre couldn’t do much about it, it’s not like he squeezed Fernando out there. If he’d pulled it off he would have looked a hero.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
10th October 2021, 14:50
*He being Fernando, he took the risk and though it nearly paid off, it didn’t. But not Pierre’s fault.
BasCB (@bascb)
10th October 2021, 15:20
Yeah, I really don’t see any reason why he even had to get a penalty – he did not even have anywhere else to go with Perez on his inside – but getting penalty points on top, that is just thoroughly unjust @beransaurus. Especially when Leclerc got off without any penalty when he barged off Gasly on a straight in Austria where he was far much more to blame than Gasly was here.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
10th October 2021, 14:45
Different rules apply to different people. Whether you are in a sandwich or not, you do not get to make contact with Spanish drivers or Aliens.
Balue (@balue)
10th October 2021, 18:00
Touché @spafrancorchamps
Kribana (@krichelle)
10th October 2021, 14:46
Bruh really? I thought Perez’s move appeared quite rash and wild, and at some point it looked like he would run wide.
S
10th October 2021, 14:46
Alonso’s penalty was justifiable, but not Gasly’s. Not even close.
Stewards got it wrong again.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
10th October 2021, 14:49
Utter nonsense.
Shouldn’t have been given a penalty to begin with & certainly shouldn’t get these 2 points.
Further proof of how ridiculous the (Over) regulation & penalties that dictate racing are. Just leave the drivers to race & don’t get involved with a penalty, penalty points & such unless its absolutely necessary.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
10th October 2021, 14:49
I was pretty sure it was going to be classed as a racing incident, surprised he got any sort of penalty to be honest.
RicoD (@ricod)
10th October 2021, 14:53
Indeed, @t1redmonkey. Especially since it was lap 1…
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
10th October 2021, 14:52
I thought you didn’t get penalties for first lap incidents – unless you go bowling I guess. Did they change the guidelines again? Leclerc didn’t get a penalty in Austria for moving into Gasly on the straight, taking him out of the race entirely, which was a much more blatant error.
And since consequences aren’t taken into account, only the incident itself – why no penalty for Sainz running into Vettel? That was a clumsier move than Gasly’s turn 1. Surely he deserves at least 5 seconds and 2 points on his licence? And it wasn’t even lap 1! Obviously that would be ludicrous, but the reasoning behind stewarding decisions is so inconsistent that they open themselves up to such comments.
Balue (@balue)
10th October 2021, 18:02
Exactly right. The stewards are bordering on putting the sport in disrepute.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
10th October 2021, 14:52
Alonso’s right… Different rules apply to different people. No way in hell this was a deserving of a penalty, specially on a corner like turn 1 in turkey, and in those conditions.
They let off Norris for his pitlane entry incident at Russia because of the conditions, when it was his own fault for driving on a wet track on slick tyres, but this gets an instant penalty, plus penalty points? makes no sense… besides, weren’t the stewards supposed to be more lenient when it comes to incidents on the start lap?
HS (@hsvdt15)
10th October 2021, 16:43
Spot on. Norris should have been a slam dunk when we remember what happened to Tsunoda at Austria.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th October 2021, 20:33
How was it his own fault for driving on a wet track on slicks when, as conditions were the lap before, he could’ve won the race on slicks? It deteriorated incredibly in 1 lap and mclaren lacked that info.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th October 2021, 20:33
Furthermore, this year there was already a questionable penalty on the first lap, and that was right on norris when he “forced perez wide” in one of the austrian races.
baasbas
10th October 2021, 14:53
What happened in the first corner seemed understandable to me. What Alonso did to Schumacher didn’t. Will Alonso get penalty points for that? Still, that would only make the offense the same. I feel what Alonso did was quite a bit worse
JL (@j-l)
10th October 2021, 15:06
This baffles me, first corner in the wet, I don’t see how this should be penalty.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
10th October 2021, 15:07
The first time Alonso nailed everything in quali with no mistake, maybe not even a little one, he see himself involved in first lap trouble, ironically fitting. Well, no one can come on top always.
His only consolation should be that a podium looked unlikely despite a very nice starting position, differently from last time round which was also a rain-affected race. But with current cars it’s needed extra elements to spice it up, very hard to impossible to recover without a big time delta. And unfortunately the time delta between teams was not smaller than other races, making it too predictable about who could climb up the field and who couldn’t.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
11th October 2021, 1:53
To complement: of course a podium finish for Fernando on last race was somewhat unlikely, but it was still one of his best chances up to this point of the season after a stellar quali. So one can understand why he took high risks specially this time at the start (not implying that he had any role in the collision with Gasly though, he was simply taken out) but after so many daring moves and brave performances from him it’s bound to go wrong sometimes. And it’s okay, as long as those don’t start to happen too often, like Lewis and Max are doing in this championship fight. Max races hard, borderline legal, Lewis retributes with careless moves, and the thing gradually scales into dirty racing.
Illusive (@illusive)
10th October 2021, 15:08
This is atrocious, I thought 1st lap was racing incident with the conditions and the position he was in. I think they just roll the dice in there.
Alex Trag
10th October 2021, 15:14
Harsh penalty, most probably for justifying Alonso’s one. Gasly seemed more like a racing incident, not even the 5sec is fair for a Lap 1 incident like this…. Maybe Alonso should think again before he speaks out about what happens around him
Marty
10th October 2021, 15:34
Gasly got Penalized for not disappearing into thin air…
Wish the Stewards were this strict in Silverstone…
Niefer (@niefer)
10th October 2021, 16:05
I thought it was really harsh on Gasly. I guess the Alonso factor has kicked in.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
10th October 2021, 16:08
Completely ridiculous there was a penalty in the first place, let alone points on top of it.
David (@davidjwest)
10th October 2021, 16:29
First corner on a wet track, very harsh indeed. He was being squeezed on both sides FGS.
Asanator (@asanator)
10th October 2021, 16:40
Seems un necessarily harsh for a wet t1 L1 incident! I was surprised. Would have liked to see it on board from Perez. It was hard to judge how much he was ‘sandwiched’. Alonso definitely deserved the penalty though. Very clumsy!
Ajayrious (@ajayrious)
10th October 2021, 17:08
Yet another ridiculous penalty.
MaddMe (@)
10th October 2021, 19:02
Nothing more than stupidity from the stewards and ultimately cost Gasly 5th place.
davidhunter13 (@davidhunter13)
11th October 2021, 0:52
So what happened to first lap racing incidents?? First corner!
The inconsistency is just infuriating.