“Not a silly driver”: Pierre Gasly speaks on race ban risk in 2023 as only two points awaits him to miss race for Alpine

Pierre Gasly in 2023, will be making his first appearance for Alpine. However, a big problem looms over him, as he is joining a new team, but he would be taking his misdemeanours with him to the French team.

The former AlphaTauri driver, over the last few months, has amassed 10 penalty points on his superlicense. An addition of two more points would get him a race ban, and Alpine would be affected by it.

However, he has to remain cautious until the upcoming Imola race, where he will shed two points and be relatively safe. But if he doesn’t, he’ll be the first driver to get a points ban since the method has been introduced.

Also read: Mark Webber wasn’t convinced with Sebastian Vettel deciding to retire

Pierre Gasly says he is not silly

Gasly is dangerously close to getting a ban and claims that the 10 points aren’t a reflection of his driving sense on the track. Rather he asks for a review of the procedural penalty points distribution.

“I try not to think of myself as not as a silly driver or dangerous driver,” Gasly told Motorsport.com last month.“I try to be careful with all the, let’s say, silly penalty points you could lose with procedures and stuff like that.”

He asks for improvement in the current system as he claims that he isn’t pointed to be the last driver to be wrongly affected by such a modus operandi.

Alpine expects maturity by the new pair

Gasly would team up with his compatriot Esteban Ocon for the next season. Despite knowing each other since their karting days, the two didn’t share cordial relations with each other for long.

Many even speculate that the two had a terrible falling out. Therefore, it could be a bad move by Alpine, as their man-management could get complicated at some point.

But the two have spoken about previous tense relations. Gasly has recently said that the two drivers have matured over time and wouldn’t put their egos above the team’s objectives.

Although, Ocon’s falling out with Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez doesn’t back him well. Nevertheless, Alpine boss Laurent Rossi has even warned his new pair that if their antics harm the team, the two can lose their seats even though they have mammoth contracts.

Also read: New Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur is holding ‘secret talks’ in Maranello

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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