F1 News: Pierre Gasly Handed Severe British GP Penalty As Qualifying Rendered Useless

Pierre Gasly has been given a 20-place grid penalty at the British Grand Prix due to technical violations, forcing him to start from the back of the grid.

Nov 18, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; BWT Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly of France (10) during the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly finds himself in an unfortunate predicament that sets him starting from the back of the grid in the upcoming British Grand Prix. This is due to technical violations related to his Renault engine's battery and the set of control electronics, surpassing his power unit component allowance for the season.

In response to the situation, a significant 20-place grid penalty was assigned which inevitably pushes Gasly to the rear of the grid. However, this mishap has prompted Alpine to strategically install an entirely new power unit in Gasly's vehicle in the hopes that it will minimize the potential of future penalties. The components replaced include Gasly’s fifth V6 engine, turbo, and electric motor components.

Expressing his challenges with the power unit components, Gasly told Canal+, as quoted by Motorsport:

"We had to change the battery.

"We had a few little problems earlier in the season which meant that I ended up with a faulty battery, another where we had two or three alerts at certain times. So, we needed to change the battery, which meant a 20-place penalty.

"We're taking the opportunity to add an extra engine because I'll have to start last in any case."

Reflecting on recent performances, particularly at the Austrian Grand Prix, where Alpine saw competitors like Haas pulling ahead in the standings, Gasly remains focused. In a candid conversation with Motorsport, he remarked:

"That was a tough one in Austria.

"They scored more points in a race weekend than they scored since the start of the year, so as a team it was far from ideal, but they did a good job.

"They haven't been competitive everywhere, but still in Austria somehow they always managed to pull off a very strong performance, and that's what we've got to aim at as a team.

"We've got to maximise, capitalise on every single opportunity we have. We know we're going to be in the fight for one or two points because the top eight is out of reach.

"We still have a lot of races to go. If we manage to get a point or two each single time then we'll be fine, but it's a tight battle."