F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Gasly wants to meet FIA stewards over looming ban

AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly has inched closer to an automatic one race after picking up another superlicence penalty point during the Mexican Grand Prix.

That brings his total for the last 12 months up to ten points. Formula 1 rules state that if a driver accumulates 12 points over the course of a year period, will face a one-race ban.

Gasly will have to avoid that happening until his current penalty points start to expire, but that won't happen until May in 2022, leaving him in a precarious situation.

He's already come perilously close to the ban, with two further penalty points (for a collision with Fernando Alonso in the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix) having 'aged out' just three weeks earlier.

Gasly isn't happy about the situation, and says he wants to meet with the FIA stewards to talk about the situation he finds himself in, having already raised the matter in Friday's driver briefing in Mexico.

“It was not just the penalty points, because obviously I'm quite close to being banned for a race,” he told the media. "In my opinion, I don't feel like I've been that dangerous over the last 12 months.

"It would be a shame to get a race ban for slowing down a bit too much behind the safety car and a couple of track limits this year," he added.

Among the reason for his accumulated penalty points so far have been causing a collision (in Spain and Austria), bollard offenses (Canada), leaving the track on multiple occasions (Austria), speeding under red flag conditions (Japan) and dropping too far behind the safety car (United States).

The latest penalty in Mexico was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while overtaking Lance Stroll, for which he also received a five second penalty in the race.

But Gasly complained that the stewards didn't tell him at the time, and therefore gave him no opportunity to hand the place back afterwards and avoid the sanction.

“I’m a racing driver, and if I see a gap I will go for the gap,” he told Motorsport.com after the race.

"If you are not happy about it then tell me to give the position back and I will try again. I wasn’t given any comments, so that is a shame.

“They just need to say it on the radio and that is what they have done in the past, but for some reason, not this time.

“They seem to be quite harsh lately,” he continued. “Last weekend half the grid was giving too much space behind the safety car, and I was penalised.

"This weekend I think it was quite tight, and I don’t know why I wasn’t really given a message to give the position back," he said. “At the end of the day I try my best inside the car.

"The last thing I want is to get stupid penalty points and lose race time" he added.

"Apparently at the moment they are not happy with what I’m doing, so I will have a discussion to understand exactly what I have got to change."

Gasly confirmed that he's also pushing for a change to the penalty points system as a whole. "I think they're working on it and probably for next year, there are going to be changes. That's good to hear.”

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Sebastian Montoya steps up to Formula 2 with Prema

Sebastian Montoya, the 19-year-old son of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, is set…

7 hours ago

Sauber finds its ‘Northern Star’ under Binotto’s leadership

When former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto took on the role of Chief Operating Officer…

8 hours ago

Leclerc hails a season ‘without missed opportunities' in 2024

Charles Leclerc concluded the 2024 F1 season with a sense of satisfaction, the Ferrari driver…

10 hours ago

Coulthard sounds alarm over FIA president’s rift with F1 drivers

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has voiced his dismay at FIA president Mohammed Ben…

11 hours ago

The rapid rise and fall of Super Aguri in F1

Super Aguri's application to join Formula 1 became a reality on this day in 2005,…

13 hours ago

Ferrari's 2024 Season: Marked improvement and a fight to the finish

Ferrari roared back into contention in 2024 to deliver their strongest season in years, thanks…

14 hours ago