F1 News: Pierre Gasly Questions Race Control After Lance Stroll's On-Track Actions
The heat between Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll should soon reach the FIA after Sunday's on-track battle between the racers at the British Grand Prix. Gasly was particularly annoyed when Stroll, who was behind him, went beyond the white lines only to re-appear on the track ahead of Gasly.
What was more surprising to Gasly is that the incident which occurred on the high-speed Stowe corner, was investigated by the stewards but they never levied a penalty on Stroll.
Gasly intends to gain clarity on the matter because the race before the British GP in Austria saw penalties rain on drivers for not respecting track limits. But this particular incident at Silverstone, which weighed more, was let off quite easily by the stewards. When asked if he would approach the FIA, Gasly said:
"Yeah, it’s got to be crystal clear, we’re racing at 350 km/h, at the moment.
"Last week we got penalised for stuff where we feel like we’re not getting the warning properly.
"This situation for me, as soon as I saw him going off the race track, I was like he’ll give me the position back, and I spent three laps behind him losing time, in his gearbox where I should not be there.
"So yeah, just asking for consistency. If that’s allowed, fine. But it’s got to be allowed for everyone.”
The action between Gasly and Stroll continued until the final corner where a contact between both their cars damaged Gasly's rear suspension to the extent that he was forced to retire from the race.
The incident was a double whammy for the Alpine F1 team as Esteban Ocon retired on lap 9 of the British GP due to a hydraulic failure. This resulted in the team losing the fifth spot in the Constructor's Standings to McLaren.
Gasly is confident of getting back in form to regain the lost position. He said:
“Hopefully in a couple of races time, the picture will again look very different.
"We’ve got upgrades, and I don’t think it’s the right thing looking at what others have done, we just need to make steps. There is no secret – (we have) got to improve our package."That’s what we’ll all be working on. We’ve already got stuff coming in a couple of weeks, so hopefully it will make a difference.”