Pierre Gasly believes that Lewis Hamilton’s contact ruined his on-track performance

Pierre Gasly fell victim to a racing incident. While he was ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the British driver ended up hitting the back of the Alpine, tearing off the diffuser. The Mercedes driver was attempting to overtake Pierre Gasly before making this error.

A racing incident that heavily impacted the rest of the Normand’s race, who finished in 13th position at the end of the Grand Prix.

An incident with heavy consequences

During the race, the stewards examined this situation. Although the Mercedes made contact with the Alpine, the FIA decided not to take any further action. « Car 10 locked its right front tire in turn 6, resulting in the car approaching the corner on a slightly different trajectory at a slightly slower speed, which was obviously unexpected by the driver of car 44 », as stated in the investigation report. « Car 44 made slight contact with the rear of car 10 in the corner. The stewards believe that no driver was fully or primarily responsible. »

A decision that did not fully convince Pierre Gasly. « It’s tough because on one hand, I can lose 15 to 20 seconds of race time, so it’s difficult », explained the Frenchman. « On the other hand, he made a mistake and came into the back of my car. But it clearly cost me quite dearly today. »

A big loss of rhythm

Pierre Gasly suffered from this race incident of which he was a victim. Losing pace and performance, it was his teammate Esteban Ocon who was ultimately able to benefit from the strategic advantages. At the conclusion of the race, the former AlphaTauri driver explained that if Lewis Hamilton had not touched him, he would have finished outside the track limits.

“I braked late and was surprised that he waited longer,” Pierre Gasly testified. “He would have gone straight if I hadn’t been there. I started to experience some graining at the front, I locked a bit, but I managed to make the turn anyway. I think he missed the braking point, and then he literally collided with me. It was violent enough to break and lose some parts of the diffuser.”

The strategic privilege granted to Esteban Ocon did not benefit Pierre Gasly’s race. Although he started ahead, he was supposed to take advantage of the first pit stop in particular. However, this turn of events completely changed the situation. « I was not happy with the strategic decision, stated the Alpine driver. « This should not happen, I believe the leading car always has priority. We made a mistake and I’m sure we will learn from it. I’m confident it won’t happen again. With all the support I was losing, we’re talking about four tenths per lap for 40 laps, maybe there was a 10th position to challenge with Lance Stroll, but I don’t think there was much more than that to play for. It wasn’t the easiest race to end the year with. »

Pierre Gasly finished the season in 11th place in the driver’s standings, just ahead of Esteban Ocon.