Pierre Gasly hopes talks can take place ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend about impeding in Qualifying after he saw his weekend ruined by Carlos Sainz Jr. getting in his way last weekend in Canada.
The BWT Alpine F1 Team driver was on a lap that could have put him inside the top ten during Q1 on the Saturday afternoon at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but he found a slow moving Sainz on the racing line going into the final chicane.
Gasly was forced to take avoiding action by running off track, meaning his lap time was invalidated, and with time running out, he was unable to get another lap time on the board and he ended up only seventeenth on the grid.
In the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks earlier, it was Gasly himself that was the culprit for impeding twice during Qualifying, with the Frenchman earning a pair of three-place penalties for his troubles.
Sainz was handed a three-place grid of his own for his impeding, but his lap time was good enough to advance, and he ultimately made it into the top ten shootout. However, Gasly says the three-place penalty was not big enough for blocking someone in Q1 if the driver then goes on to start inside the top ten.
“I was on the other side in Barcelona,” Gasly is quoted as saying by RacingNews365.com.
“The only thing that I tend to disagree a bit [with] is when you impede someone that finished on pole position, it’s different than when you impede someone in a way that kicks him out of Q1 or Q2.
“Clearly the damage was not only in qualy, but clearly in the race. Your whole weekend is affected by it. Maybe that needs a review, but honestly this is out of our control. I’m sure it’s going to be talked about at the next race.
“At the moment, I just hope for a clean and smooth weekend and that’s what we’ll target in Austria.”
