The 2023 Australian GP was the most exciting race of the season so far, but it was also extremely chaotic. Yellow flags, red flags, safety cars, restarts, and crashes- this year’s outing in Melbourne had it all. For Pierre Gasly and Alpine, however, it was an extremely disappointing affair.
Gasly was looking incredibly strong in Melbourne and was in P5 in the closing stages. His pace also pointed towards a potential overtake on Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, which would have been huge, but a late race red flag changed it all. The race was halted, and drivers restarted in the order they were in right before the crash.
On the first lap after the restart, Gasly made a costly error that led to him crashing into his teammate Esteban Ocon, hence taking them both out of the race. After the race, the French team expressed their disappointment at how they went from getting a double points finish to leaving Albert Park with zero points.
Pierre Gasly isn’t used to new F1 rules
Gasly, like many other drivers, did not agree with the stewards’ decision to red-flag the race with just two laps to go. Almost every driver was surprised when their respective race engineers asked them to enter the pit lane because of the race being temporarily stopped.
This is because everyone including Gasly wanted the race to end behind the safety car. That way, the chaos that unfolded after the restart could have been avoided. Both Alpine drivers could have gone home with a good points haul, which could have turned out to be crucial in the constructors’ championship.
However, former Williams reserve driver Jack Aitken feels that Gasly should own up to his mistake. According to the Brit, the ex-Red Bull driver should be familiar enough with ‘the new Formula 1’ and the decision making process that comes with it.
F1 drivers have become very used to safety car finishes
In the F1: Chequered Flag podcast, Aitken points out that drivers in F1 are too comfortable with the older rules. This includes races finishing under safety car conditions, which is something race control avoids doing nowadays.
No one wants a race to finish behind a safety car, especially the drivers who are agonizingly close to claiming desired position. Fans too, want a grandstand finish that is memorable instead of watching the drivers slowly follow the safety car for the last few laps until the chequered flag is waved.
Aitken feels that this is something drivers should get used to. According to him, Pierre Gasly and the others are still not used to this ‘new Formula 1’.
