Pierre Gasly Penalized 6 Grids for Impeding Verstappen and Sainz in F1 Spain GP Qualifying

Pierre Gasly (Alpine F1 Team) did well in 4th place in the 2023 F1 Round 8 Spain GP qualifying, but Sunday’s final grid was demoted 6 grids. Gasly was handed two three-grid penalties by the F1 Spanish Grand Prix stewards for separately impeding the runs of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz during the qualifying session.

In both cases, as far as the stewards could see, there was clear misconduct. In the first instance of Q1, Gasly blocked Sainz at turn 13 and an official said the Frenchman “was aware that car #55[Sainz]was behind him, but the fast Delta and cars #55 and #16[Charles (Leclerc) was so close that I felt there was nothing I could do to avoid being interrupted.” However, the stewards decided that Gasly could have moved further to the right on the exit of turn 13 so as not to impede the pace of the Ferrari drivers. In the second case, which occurred in Q1, the stewards said that the Alpine F1 Team “had been informed that the following car was running a slow lap, but the approach of car 1[Verstappen]was not appropriate (to Gasly). No warning was given,” he said. Despite the disappointing result, Gasly vowed to brace himself for Sunday’s race, which starts from 10th on the grid. “It’s a real shame we won’t be able to start from the second row tomorrow because of the sabotage penalty,” Gasly said. “I think it was a very unlucky situation with the traffic, the close cars and the high speed final corner,” he said. “We know we can still have a strong race.” After overcoming the sanctions, Gasly was pleased with the team’s performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, which followed the Monaco Grand Prix. “I have to say I’m very happy with the team because it was my best qualifying this season,” Gasly said. “I’m happy with the progress we’ve made in the last few weeks,” he said. “It’s still early in the season and every weekend I’m learning about the team, they’re learning about me too. “It’s important to put it all together.” “Every weekend I feel like we’re making progress, one step at a time.” Gasly’s team-mate Esteban Ocon, who qualified seventh, will start the Spanish Grand Prix from fifth on the grid.