Pierre Gasly got a lifeline after stewards decided not to punish him for the collision against Esteban Ocon in Melbourne. Calling it a racing incident, the stewards allowed the Frenchman to walk away freely and participate in the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
After Kevin Magnussen caused a red flag restart, Gasly was doing well in P5. But a disruption caused by Sainz and Alonso made him break away to avoid the collision. When coming back to defend his place, the #10 driver directly collided with his teammate Ocon.
Chaos. Chaos?! 🤯
An absolutely insane race restart in Australia 🙃#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hjGrjWBixS
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
Luckily, the stewards saw this as a racing incident and didn’t penalize the former AlphaTauri driver with any penalty points. Had it been otherwise, the former Red Bull star was sure to miss the upcoming Azerbaijan GP. This was because the 27-year-old already had ten penalty points and any more points would see him miss a race.
The F1 world witnessed heavy carnage at Albert Park on Sunday. The back-to-back red flag and safety car made it one of the most chaotic races ever. With everyone having their share of bad days, it was worst for Alpine.
How did the crash happen?
The restart after the second red flag saw Gasly and Ocon collide against each other. It all started with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz pushing Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin.
The sudden abrupt movement of the Aston Martin disrupted the order and brought the two Alpines closer to each other. As Ocon reached the blind spot of Gasly, the duo hit each other and crashed against the wall.
Esteban and Pierre both involved in a collision, out of the race😔#AusGP #F1
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) April 2, 2023
This not only finished any points prospect from the French team but also brought another red flag. However, the stewards called this a racing incident and let Pierre Gasly pass.
What Gasly and Ocon had to say about the unfortunate crash?
Understandably, none of the drivers were happy or content with the crash. Having lost a great opportunity for point salvation both for themselves, the duo seemed to be dejected.
The 27-year-old, however, was reached by the media for comments. There, he said that he doesn’t really want to say anything about this. Gasly then repented on missing out on a strong result.
The 26-year-old on the other hand stayed away from blaming his teammate. Having understood that it was a chaotic restart, he said the crash could have been with anyone. He also added that his new teammate apologized for not leaving space and colliding with him in the end.
