George Russell and Pierre Gasly have each been given two penalty points on their superlicences for collisions at turn four during the Austrian Grand Prix.
In both incidents the driver on the inside was penalised after a clash which sent the driver on the outside into the gravel trap.Russell tangled with Sergio Perez on the first lap of the race. The unimpressed Red Bull driver said he expected better of his rival.
“I was clearly ahead,” said Perez. “It was up to George to really control his car which he clearly couldn’t and we ended up making contact.
“There was nothing else I could have done. I gave him enough room. I was already very close to the gravel to make sure he had enough room and for both of us to make the corner.”
Perez said the drivers had been given “clear” guidance on leaving room for each other in the corner. “For the standards of George, the level, I’m very surprised at that manoeuvre,” he said.
After falling to the back of the field, Perez later retired from the race, and lost second place in the drivers championship to Charles Leclerc. “It’s very disappointing for me,” he said. “A very disappointing result for our team because clearly today there was a lot of opportunities. We had too much damage to progress in the race.”
The stewards “determined that car 63 [Russell] was wholly at fault for the incident” after reviewing video footage of the clash.
“This was not considered as a ‘first lap incident’ as this was a battle between the two cars and was not affected by the pack of cars as can happen during the first lap.”
Gasly was also ruled to be entirely to blame for his collision with Sebastian Vettel later in the race. He was given the same sanction as Russell, a five-second time penalty and two licence points.
“The stewards reviewed the video evidence and determined that car five [Vettel] was at least fully alongside throughout his attempt to pass on the outside of car 10 [Gasly] at turn four and gave car 10 sufficient room at the apex. The stewards determine that the collision was wholly the fault of car 10.”
Gasly is now on a total of six penalty points on his licence, while Russell has three.
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Kribana (@krichelle)
10th July 2022, 16:49
The master has taught the apprentice very well. Lewis be like: « Gooooodddddd »
iCarbs (@icarby)
10th July 2022, 17:17
@krichelle – *shakes head*
Edvaldo
10th July 2022, 16:56
As did Norris last year?
cherry8cake
10th July 2022, 16:58
As soon as Perez went on the outside of that same corner, instant flash memory of Norris vs Perez last year. Perez should have been wiser and weighed his risk/reward ratio better with the benefit of his previous experience a year earlier. Especially on the opening lap.
Even if the stewards concluded it was Russel that is wholly at fault for the incident, it is of no solace to Perez. Perez should have backed out and live to fight another day. He can argue whatever he wants, still zero points.
Statistically, that corner has not been kind to drivers overtaking on the outside.
Illusive (@illusive)
10th July 2022, 16:59
Take a car out, ends up P4.
PMP
10th July 2022, 17:14
The 5sec penalty doesn’t quite match the damage he did to Perez’s race.
I don’t know what the penalty should be, but such a mild penalties could be taken advantage of: If you have a 5sec lead to the next car, give a kiss to the car you are fighting.
Edvaldo
10th July 2022, 17:28
Russell shouldn’t even get a penalty. Perez barely left any space. It was too tight and they touched.
The only reason he got a penalty is because nowadays nobody comes unscathed of incidents that delay at least one of the parts. They go ad try to compensate the harm done to the other driver’s race.
G
10th July 2022, 17:38
You are living on fantasy Island there.
Russel was 100% to blame and I had slight deja vu thinking back to Hamilton doing the same thing to Albon at the same corner.
Mercedes must have a program on their simulator for perfecting pit manoeuvres.
Edvaldo
10th July 2022, 17:42
Take a good read on other comments. You may be the one on a fantasy land.
Robbie (@robbie)
10th July 2022, 17:51
Edvaldo You’re wrong.
Edvaldo
10th July 2022, 18:16
There was that instance with Norris saying he was squeezed after being overtaken by Schumacher.
Had they touched, it would be his fault then? lol C’mon man, think.
Russell didn’t oversteer into Perez.
In fact it’s the 2nd race in a row on this same track that Perez tries this and it backfires, so it was Norris fault last year too, right?
Edvaldo
10th July 2022, 18:31
Yep, just watched the replay. Russell goes as tight as a F1 car can go on that corner, Perez, way too tight for someone who knows there’s somebody on the inside line.
100% racing incident, but these are rare these days.
Mikef117
10th July 2022, 18:56
But look at the space SP has outside him and compare it to the space GR has inside him.
grat
10th July 2022, 19:52
Passing on the outside is always risky.
Now it’s much safer, because the stewards will always side with you.
SteveP
10th July 2022, 20:13
BS.
I’ve looked at the replays several times and Russell was right wheels on the kerb. To be any further away from Perez he’d need to have been on the grass.
Perez comment about being nearly in the gravel is also BS – there was a gap of a good 3-4 car widths outside him.
What the stewards saw makes me wonder whether they need the contact details for a good optician.
G
10th July 2022, 20:23
He started off on the kerb ok. It’s what he did when he moved away from it while knowing Perez was ahead.
Kinda like when Lewis took Max out last year, that’s how not to use the room given when behind in a corner.
Julio
11th July 2022, 5:35
Read the rules. In situations like that Russel should have hit the brakes.
HJ
10th July 2022, 17:39
IMO Perez was already ahead. So Russel should’ve lifted. Same situation as with VET and GAS.
5 sec. is fair I guess. It was by mistake and: it’s called a motor race;-)
MaddMe (@)
10th July 2022, 19:01
Perez was virtually fully in front of Russell when Russell made contact with his side pod and rear wheel. Considering the fact his move was finished, he should have lifted and let him go by, especially considering that every single incident like that, fault has been passed on to the driver on the inside line and penalties given for the past 3 years.
I have to give credit to the stewards for the consistency of the penalties at this track, for that infraction.
grat
10th July 2022, 19:53
You realize that’s not actually valid english?
slowmo (@slowmo)
10th July 2022, 23:32
Ever head of lift off understeer, that would have guaranteed a accident.
GoingConcern
10th July 2022, 21:29
Penalties aren’t meant to match the effect on anyone’s race, they’re supposed to be appropriate for the error itself without regards to outcome. How much & what type of effect a specific driver action ultimately has is a product of far too many things outside the driver’s control – position of other cars, the other driver’s immediate reaction & subsequent performance, the specific strengths/weaknesses of each car, track nature & conditions, other unrelated race events & outcomes, pure dumb luck… each driver can only reasonably be held responsible for their own driving.
In this case George’s penalty should have been appropriate to his error, which was under steering into another car that was alongside and slightly ahead in a corner during close racing conditions with heavy cars & cold tires, causing moderate contact. Most neutral parties with solid racing knowledge seem to see the 5 seconds and 2 points as totally sufficient if not a little harsh.
Venedikov (@venedikov)
10th July 2022, 17:30
While Gasly/Vettel was straight forward, I don’t Russel/Perez was wholly on one side – Russel had two wheels on the curb, how much more beyond the white line should he go?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
10th July 2022, 17:48
No, I don’t agree @venedikov. Russell was on the curb to begin with, but he should have held his line and followed the radius of the corner. Instead he wandered out wide, with the inevitable result. Penalty was deserved, and if anything should have been harsher if the precedent hadn’t already been set for similar incidents at that corner.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
10th July 2022, 18:44
@red-andy Hitting the apex and running wide on exit is how you normally take the corner. If your suggestion is to hit the apex and ‘continue through the radius of the corner’ when battling others then inside defending stops being a thing altogether. You will need to drop so much speed to make the corner like you say that nobody will do it… and if there is no inside then there is no overtaking in corners and DRS passes is all we’ll have.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
10th July 2022, 19:47
@ivan-vinitskyy That’s how you drive if no one else is there, or if the car you’re battling doesn’t have any part of their car in front. But when the car is ahead of you (as Perez was) then you need to hold your line. You can’t just shut the door on them like you would if they were behind, and expect them to disappear or take to the runoff.
Qeki (@qeki)
11th July 2022, 8:43
@red-andy +1
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
10th July 2022, 17:39
I’m totally perplexed as to what Russell did wrong.
Basically, they’re now rewarding risky overtake moves – because if you get your nose ahead, then apparently the other driver now has to literally brake and let them past.
Overtaking into a space that will disappear, is apparently now OK!!
Robbie (@robbie)
10th July 2022, 17:49
@banbrorace You know there is at least one other option to your sarcastic one, which is that when space is left, as it was for GR on the inside, and with Checo ahead, the onus was on GR to control his car and race it out within the space he was given. He couldn’t control his car and keep within the space he was afforded, hit Checo, and therefore was penalized. Checo did everything right, and it was GR that went into him. As per the stewards issuing a penalty.
So no the other driver doesn’t have to literally brake and let them past. He has to race it out fair and square when left the space to do so, and GR failed to do that today.
Neil
10th July 2022, 17:55
GR was at the edge of the track, he could leave any more space
Edvaldo
10th July 2022, 18:19
Red Bull Brigade making up rules is on fire on this comment section. Russel shouldve taken it into the grass according to this dude.
Unbelievable.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
10th July 2022, 21:34
Explain how Russell could have moved any further right without been on the grass.
And what sarcasm? I’m been serious. We seem to be having some very strange decisions.
Robbie (@robbie)
10th July 2022, 21:51
@banbrorace This is not about GR taking the apex…that was fine. This is about how Checo left GR plenty of space on the outside and after GR took the apex he then went wide and into him, and had room inside Checo to do otherwise. I’m sure GR’s angle toward and at the apex didn’t help him in controlling his car and staying away from Checo after the apex. Hence his penalty.
AlexTR (@petrucci)
10th July 2022, 22:20
Welcome to the Verstappen racing school
David BR (@david-br)
11th July 2022, 1:56
@banbrorace +1 It wasn’t an attempted overtake on the inside by Russell, he was defending. Perez was trying a pass on the outside, always risky, so the onus is on him to take care and prepare to use all the track, not just assume he’s grabbed the racing line because he’s a bit of nose in front. If you look at Checo’s onboard it’s clear he turns in sharply, expecting Russell to brake and cede him the fast line out, rather than stay out left until he’s clear. Perez can moan all he wants. Poor driving dumped him to the back of the pack.
Julio
11th July 2022, 5:38
Being risky doesn’t mean illegal. Read the rules. According to the rules the car ahead has the right to use the racing line and the rival has to use the brakes needed.
Transmix (@transmix)
10th July 2022, 17:48
All of this is happening because of that stupid rule saying “who was first in front at the apex has the right of way”, so the ultra late brakers just throw their cars in the turns expecting to have the corner on the exit :(
Have the roles been reversed, Perez would have crowded Russell on the exit although in the previous corners, George left him enough space.
Michael
10th July 2022, 18:19
For me Russell defended in the wrong way. As they went into the corner they were level but Perez got ahead because he broke later and cut ahead. Russell should have braked later than normal stopping Perez cutting across him. As per the rules Perez is entitled to do this.
When Leclerc overtook Verstappen the first time he was on the inside but braked much later preventing Verstappen turning in. Russell on the inside defending had to do that. It would force Perez to back out (as Verstappen did) or run wide as Perez did last year.
The problem with Perez’s overtaking attempt is that it has a high chance of him coming off worst yet with him being technically in the right. The wiser choice is to slot in behind Russell an blast past with DRS on lap 3.
Russell’s penalty will be annoying for him but it is correct as per the rules and does not deserve to be higher.
What Perez did was completely legal but is just not the move to make especially on the first lap of a race in terms of maximising the result. It is a weakness in his driving.
slowmo (@slowmo)
10th July 2022, 18:32
Felt like a dumb risk by Perez to me given his car advantage. He also could have opened up his line to give Russell more room but he got greedy wanting to trap him on an acute angle so he couldn’t fight back. While I think a 5s penalty was fair enough, claiming afterwards it was all his fault is a bit rich.
asz
10th July 2022, 19:09
More like a double-edged sword.
Some of his great recoveries from behind are aided by brave moves at the start and during the first lap. Obviously, there is a risk involved and on days like this, he pays the price.
Ankita
10th July 2022, 19:51
Yes but Perez has had similar issues in rhe same corner before. Last year with Norris first lap and in 2020 with Albon last lap. That was too risky. Perhaps Perez didn’t know it bit with the pace of the Mercedes cars, he could have passed Russell as soon as the drs was available
If I'm not wery much mistaken (@ifiamnotwerymuchmistaken)
10th July 2022, 18:41
I still struggle to accept that outside overtakes are no longer the responsibility of the overtaking driver himself. It used to be, if you go for an outside overtake you know the risk is all yours and that more likely than not you’ll get pushed out.
That’s what made them so special.
asz
10th July 2022, 19:04
The point is exactly that outside overtakes shouldn’t actually be ‘so special’.
They are only so because millions of racing drivers internalized an idiotic ‘axiom’ (from the very beginning of their career) that led to unfair, unsporting, aggressive, reckless behaviour against their competitors if those happened to be on the outside through a corner.
As if a car on that part of the track is no longer entitled to the space it occupies. As if a driver on the inside is not obliged to make the corner in the space available to them.
That arrogant attitude indeed made outside overtakes a risky move but the assumption that ‘the risk is all yours’ if you’re on the outside should be expunged.
Ipsom
10th July 2022, 19:12
What makes outside overtakes special is that ur driving a longer distance around the corner faster than a driver on the inside (and shorter) line
KaIIe (@kaiie)
10th July 2022, 18:50
I agree with the F1TV commentary, this was a slam dunk racing incident. While Russell did understeer slightly after hitting the inside kerb, Perez had tons of space on the outside but decided to turn in too eagerly.
Mikef117
10th July 2022, 19:09
And why did GR hit the inside curb? Answer ; he was already at track limit. Isn’t there a penalty for not leaving a car’s width?
DaveW (@dmw)
10th July 2022, 18:57
Russell was at fault. But Pérez should show some humility after getting away with his crazy PlayStation moves last week.
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
10th July 2022, 20:10
Has Gasly checked out, now that his career is done and dusted?
He tasted victory and I still rank him higher that Checo, but with no prospects….
He is accruing points for avoidable contact, is constantly battling his team mate, was involved in one of the biggest crashes.
I just don’t want to see a devil-may-care -attitude at 300 kmh.
oweng (@oweng)
10th July 2022, 21:57
Perez did the same last week but got away with it. Presumably because Hamilton was able to go off track onto a run off area.
marcusbreese (@marcusbreese)
10th July 2022, 22:02
As a Perez fan, I was a bit disappointed to see PR63 penalised – I felt Perez didn’t leave him enough space and the collision was inevitable.
AlexTR (@petrucci)
10th July 2022, 22:17
I disagree with Russel’s penalty because he was simply fighting for his position and kept his steering wheel locked while making the corner. Perez on the other hand didn’t account for Russel’s car and made his turn without taking avoiding action, hence the collision. If anything, I would punish Perez not Russell.
Gasly on the contrary, didn’t try to make the corner and contributed heavily in crashing.
Bottom line, I strongly believe that driver’s name plays a significant role in penalties handed from one race to another. Or it is just a coincidence
Moshambles (@moshambles)
12th July 2022, 10:39
It’s just a racing incident in my book and Perez was unfortunate. IT happens