F1 News: Pierre Gasły Faces Stewards At Brazilian GP Amidst Potential Race Ban
AlphaTauri driver, Pierre Gasly, has gone into the Brazilian Grand Prix race weekend with 10 penalty points. Once a driver accrues 12 penalty points in a 12-month rolling period, they will receive a race ban. Gasly was summoned to the stewards office today after the sprint race.
With a race ban looming, Gasly has raised concerns that he feels some of the penalty points he has gained have been unfair so talks have begun with the FIA over these. The Frenchman was summoned today for allegedly driving too slowly on the reconnaissance laps before the race. Any penalty points at this moment in time for Gasly would be detrimental to the team who are trying to overtake Haas in the constructor’s championship for eighth place, as well as for Gasly.
Speaking to the press ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix race weekend, Gasly spoke about the looming race ban and penalty points he has received. He said:
“I’m not going to lie, it’s a very unpleasant situation and is quite delicate and, in some ways, quite embarrassing. To be standing in a position where I could be banned after the season I have done, I don’t really feel I have been particularly dangerous over these last 12 months and that would be definitely a harsh penalty.
“But there have been a lot of discussions with the FIA, trying to find a solution because personally, I want to do all of the races. I want to finish the season in the best way I can with AlphaTauri.”
Gasly will be leaving AlphaTauri at the end of this season and is moving to Alpine to race alongside fellow Frenchman, Esteban Ocon for the 2023 season. This is the first time Gasly will be driving for a team outside of the Red Bull umbrella in his Formula 1 career.
