The French driver had been summoned by the marshals after qualifying due to a double impeding episode, first to the detriment of Carlos Sainz e Max Verstappen. After a couple of hours the response arrived for both cases which brought to mind what happened in Monte-Carlo with Charles Leclerc, penalized 3 places for blocking Lando Norris in his attempt in Q3. Here is the decision!
Gasly, double impeding, double penalty
I stewards decided for a double penalty. Three positions to be discounted for the episode with Sainz and three to be discounted for the episode with Verstappen. Pierre Gasly then slips from fourth position to tenth, serving as many as 6 penalty positions. This favors the drivers who were classified immediately behind, such as Lewis Hamilton who climbs into the second row with Lando Norris. Pierre's teammate, Esteban Ocon, who had only qualified seventh, also climbs.
The press releases
In the first, which refers to the first episode with Carlos Sainz, it is clear that Pierre noticed Sainz's arrival when it was too late. As the says statement"The driver of Car 10 stated that he realized that the second Ferrari (Car 55) was behind him, but that he could not have done anything to avoid the hindrance due to the difference in speed and the proximity of car 55 to car 16 However, the Stewards believe that he could have moved further right out of turn 13. "
In the case with Verstappen however, the fault seems to belong more to the team which would not have warned the French driver in time: “The Stewards listened to the driver of car 10 (Pierre Gasly), the driver of car 1 (Max Verstappen) and the team representatives. The team failed to properly warn the driver of Car 10 of Car 1's approach, after telling him that the cars behind were making a slow lap."
So it will also be an uphill Grand Prix for Pierre. A real shame considering this was one of the best qualifying sessions since he's been racing for Alpine.
“The Stewards listened to the driver of car 10 (Pierre Gasly), the driver of car 1 (Max Verstappen) and the team representatives. The team failed to properly warn the driver of Car 10 of Car 1's approach, after telling him that the cars behind were making a slow lap."
