Pierre Gasly apologized to his new teammate, Esteban Ocon, after colliding with him in Australia. The Frenchman collided against his Alpine teammate after the safety car restarted at the end of turn 2 and cost his team 11 points as both Alpines were on the verge of finishing P5 and P10, respectively.
After the race, the former AlphaTauri driver went to his compatriot to apologize for the on-track incident. Confirmed by Ocon himself said that the former Red Bull star apologised for the unfortunate and unwilling crash.
This one hurts.
Running in P5 the whole race, and it slipped away in the last minutes. Tough one to swallow. On a positive note, great to have the pace to battle for a Top 5. I’m feeling better in the car race by race, we will keep grinding and come back strong as a team in Baku pic.twitter.com/OJFXZ1FhZL— PIERRE GASLY 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) April 2, 2023
As per reports, the 27-year-old was ”extremely disappointed” over the crash. He said that he is extremely disappointed with how things have turned out to be. He was at a loss for words, but he also said that he just wanted to mention the positive aspects.
Gasly, who was in P5 before the race started, said battling with the Ferraris and Aston Martins of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso was unexpected. He concluded that this was a good sign, and the team could take the positives from here.
Ocon accepted Gasly’s apology
Esteban Ocon has accepted his new teammate’s apologies. Talking to the media, the 26-year-old said he could have collided with anyone, not just with his teammate. As many cars went off the track, it was difficult to pass and not have a collision with anyone.
Ultimately, his teammate crashed into him after trying to regain his position. It was absolutely frustrating given the Alpines had good pace all weekend and a major haul of points as possible, the 26-year-old added.
Not the result we deserved. We showed great pace so to walk away with no points is very disappointing. The clash with Pierre was unfortunate and I’m glad we’re both OK. These tough moments are what brings the team closer together. Bring on the next race. Allez @AlpineF1Team pic.twitter.com/gsX0Q6JA0w
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) April 2, 2023
The Alpines were doing well before the chaotic restart. “But the red flag destroyed our strategy. We probably would have been fourth or fifth, but this one nullified everything,” Ocon further asserted.
Gasly evaded race suspension by a whisker
The former AlphaTauri man barely escaped the FIA axe after the brutal crash in Melbourne. Having collided with his teammate, Gasly ended his race and had the chance to be suspended for the upcoming race.
The 27-year-old already accumulated ten penalty points. With any further points added, he could’ve been suspended for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
However, the race stewards saw the crash as a pure racing incident and allowed the Frenchman to walk free. As the restart was chaotic, the stewards ruled out Pierre Gasly as the primary culprit.
