Pierre Gasly ended today’s Turkish GP in a splendid sixth position. The Frenchman from AlphaTauri was able to manage the difficult conditions of the asphalt, guessing all the strategies and navigating consistently always in the top-6 of the ranking. This result, which represents for the native of Rouen a return in the points after the disappointing – for different reasons – races in Monza and Sochi, was however put in the balance by the penalty of five seconds remedied by Gasly at the start. Tightened in a funnel and with a wet track, the driver of the Faenza team missed the braking point, hitting Fernando Alonso’s Alpine in turn-1 and sending it into a spin.
The investigation by the race marshals led to the penalty, served by Gasly in the only pit stop made. Having finished the GP just three seconds behind Lewis Hamilton, the Frenchman probably lost a position due to that episode. After the race, however, the driver of the Faenza team did not want to argue with the stewards. Interviewed by the site Race Fans, expressed his point of view, stressing that he had had little room for maneuver in the excited phases of the start. “I haven’t reviewed the footage. Obviously I was squeezed between Perez on the inside and Alonso on the outside, so there wasn’t much space”Highlighted the former Red Bull.
“There was a contact and I received the penalty. I don’t know if it was the right thing or not, I need to take a look at the video first “ Gasly admitted. “I saw that Sergio was there too and I tried to go where I could – the person concerned added again, entering the contact details – it is known that it is usually not always a good situation when there are so many cars nearby. The penalty? To be honest I don’t really know where else I could have gone – Gasly pointed out – but it’s a complicated decision. It is the first corner and, of course, there is a high possibility that something will happen. I don’t want to be involved in any kind of accident that could ruin my race. So I just tried to stay between these two cars. But I didn’t have much space “.
These, however, are the words of Yuki Tsunoda, who got out of the points area also due to an error on a wet track: “Too bad for today, I think I could have crossed the finish line in the Top 10. I used the tires too much at the beginning, in that duel with Hamilton, and after that it was really hard to keep up the pace. Unfortunately, I then spun that ruined my entire race. But today I learned a lot, completing many laps with intermediate tires, even if I am disappointed because I was hoping to get some points to help the team in the league“.