Pierre Gasly was angry after being knocked out of Q1 by Carlos Sainz; Sainz was subsequently handed a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix; Watch the Canadian GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 7pm on Sunday, with warmup starting at 5:30pm
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly accused Carlos Sainz of driving “unacceptably and unfairly” after he was impeded by the Ferrari during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
In a dramatic end to the first part of the wet session, Sainz slowed down approaching the final corner, creating chaos as the following cars risked not crossing the start-finish line in time for mark one last fast lap.
Coming down the main straight – which precedes the final chicane – at full speed, Gasly was forced off the track and missed the opportunity to set a fastest lap, which put him out for the count in 17th position.
Sainz finished eighth but was handed a three-place penalty by the stewards for the incident, relegating him to 11th on the grid for Sunday’s race.
“I don’t think any words can express the disappointment and frustration right now,” Gasly said. sky sports f1.
“You put a lot of work into free practice, building your weekend, getting everything out of Qualy. We did everything right, that lap was good enough to be in the top six. Even if I lost a couple of tenths with a bit of traffic , would have been good enough for the top 10.
“Carlos did the worst job possible to stay completely in the racing line. To me that is completely unacceptable and unfair. I have no words to explain what happened.”
Asked if he blamed Sainz or the Ferrari pit wall for the incident, Gasly continued: “You have a lot of trust in the team, but the whole team, when they come to Canada, they know it’s dangerous.
“We know that at the last chicane, everyone collides with each other and you have to pay more attention. The minimum is to at least be out of line. First this was an impediment and second it was extremely dangerous.
“If I crush him at 300 km/h, it puts him and myself in danger. It’s completely unfair.”
“Today it ruined my whole day. Tomorrow we will start in P17, so it will affect my career.”
“Obviously, there must be something [punishment] but, at the end of the day, it won’t give us back what we should have had and that’s what matters most to me. I’m really devastated.”
Sainz: It depends on how much you yell on the radio
Sainz appeared to dismiss Gasly’s criticism, suggesting the incident was only highlighted because of the Frenchman’s reaction on the radio, which initially saw him call for the Spaniard to be “banned”.
“I was very tight with the flag, I was about to go down,” Sainz said.
“I was impeded seven times today and I’m not yelling into the radio at Turn 13. Other drivers choose to use the radio more than others. I was impeded many, many times today.”
“Some incidents are under investigation, others are not. It depends on how much you yell on the radio.
“I had to let other cars pass and I couldn’t get out of the way. I did my best to get out of the way and tried to move forward.”
“I had to go, otherwise I would have missed my qualifying lap as well. I was hampered at the time as well.”
Sainz had endured a challenging final practice on Saturday, crashing into the barrier and leaving his team with repair work that continued until just minutes before the start of Qualifying.
At that time, Sainz had already gone to see the stewards, having been cited for disturbing Alex Albon of Williams on two occasions on the same stretch of track.
Sainz escaped punishment as stewards take a more lenient approach to practicing incidents.
He added: “One of the most complicated (qualifying) of my career, especially because of the incident (in P3).”
sky sports f1Live schedule of the Canadian GP
sunday june 18
5:30 pm: Canadian GP preparation on Grand Prix Sunday
18:55: The Grandstand with Daniel Ricciardo and Will Arnett (via Red Button)
19:00: THE GRAND PRIX OF CANADA
9:00 p.m.: Canadian GP reaction to the checkered flag
10:00 p.m.: Ted’s Notebook
