Pierre Gasly excluded from qualifying for excess fuel
Following his thirteenth place in qualifying, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was under investigation for excess fuel. The stewards eventually decided to disqualify the Frenchman after a technical inspection of his car. He will now start from the back of the grid.
After the penalty imposed on Isack Hadjar in F2 for causing a red flag in qualifying, it is now another Frenchman, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, who has been sanctioned. Gasly was under investigation for exceeding the maximum allowed fuel quantity for qualifying.
After checks carried out by the FIA technical delegate in Formula 1, Jo Bauer, it was found that Gasly’s car was indeed exceeding the fuel mass flow rate.
This is a violation of Article 5.2.3 of the Formula 1 Technical Regulations which states that with regard to the engine specification, « the mass flow rate of fuel must not exceed 100 kg per hour ».
Bauer submitted the case to the race commissioners for them to review and the verdict is in.
As this is a technical infringement, the rules are clear and precise, the penalty results in Gasly being disqualified from the qualifying classification. He will therefore start from the back of the grid.
It’s the fourth disqualification after qualifications this year.
In Monaco, it was the Haas drivers, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who had been disqualified from the Grand Prix due to non-compliance with the standards regarding the rear wing of their cars. Alex Albon was also disqualified after the new floor of his Williams was deemed slightly non-compliant with the rules following the qualifying session of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Another blow for Alpine, which is facing multiple issues this weekend. Between the mechanical problems encountered by Esteban Ocon and the penalty for Pierre Gasly, this Grand Prix is already shaping up to be a weekend to forget for the French team.
Already struggling to find performance in races, Alpine, currently eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, sees its situation further complicated with the addition of this penalty. It’s safe to say that the end of the crisis seems even further away.
