Pierre Gasly was left furious after passing a tractor on-track when returning to the pits under the red flag in the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly : Suzuka | Tractor | is going to alpine
Gasly is a French racing driver, currently competing in Formula One under the French flag, racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri.
| Born | 7 February 1996 Rouen, France |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality | French |
| 2022 team | AlphaTauri-RBPT |
| Car number | 10 |
| Entries | 104 (104 starts) |
He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series and the 2017 Super Formula Championship and he made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.
He moved to Red Bull Racing in 2019, before moving back after trading with Alexander Albon from Toro Rosso between the Hungarian and Belgian rounds to partner Daniil Kvyat.
Gasly took his maiden Formula One victory at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix while driving for AlphaTauri. Gasly is due to move to Alpine for the 2023 season.
Suzuka
Race control threw a red flag after just two laps at Suzuka on Sunday due to heavy rain that led to a couple of incidents on the opening lap, including a crash for Carlos Sainz exiting the hairpin.
Gasly was the last driver to return to the pit lane under the red flag, but was seen getting animated with team member in the garage after getting out of his car.
Onboard footage from the AlphaTauri car showed that Gasly passed a stationary tractor that was on the left-hand side of the track to recover Sainz’s car. Although the race had been red flagged, Gasly was yet to return to the pits.
“What is this tractor on track?” Gasly shouted on team radio. “I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what has happened. Can’t believe this.”
Carlos Sainz said he “still doesn’t know” why we “keep risking” having a tractor out on track, especially considering the race was red-flagged shortly after.
The Ferrari driver said: “I don’t know if people understand, but even behind the safety car, we are going at 100-150 kph, and still at those speeds, we don’t see nothing, even behind the safety car.
Pierre Gasly tractor
French driver Pierre Gasly reacted furiously after passing a tractor on the track at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, on the same Suzuka circuit where Jules Bianchi suffered a fatal accident.
Also Gasly said he could have been killed after encountering the vehicle, which was deployed to recover Carlos Sainz’s car after the Spaniard crashed in heavy rain on a chaotic first lap.
The race was red-flagged on the third lap and had not restarted more than an hour later as rain continued to fall.
French driver Bianchi suffered a fatal crash at Suzuka in October 2014 when he collided with a tractor crane that was recovering a car.
He underwent emergency surgery and was placed in an induced coma, but never recovered and died in July 2015.
McLaren driver Lando Norris said the incident involving Gasly in terrible visibility was “unacceptable” in a tweet posted on social media as he waited for the race to restart.
“How’s this happened?” he tweeted.
“We lost a life in this situation years ago. We risk our lives, especially in conditions like this.”
But The governing body FIA said the incident would be investigated after the race.
Gasly was also under investigation for allegedly speeding under red flag conditions, having pitted to remove an advertising board that had lodged on the front of his car after Sainz had dislodged it, and then trying to catch the field behind the safety car.
Pierre Gasly is going to alpine
Pierre Gasly will form an all-French line-up with Esteban Ocon at Alpine from the 2023 season after signing a multi-year deal.
The 26-year-old was contracted to AlphaTauri for 2023, but Red Bull – who have supported him for the last nine years – agreed to release him early.
Gasly has been keen to secure a drive with a works squad having rebuilt his reputation at AlphaTauri following demotion from the Red Bull works squad in 2019.
“I am delighted to join the Alpine family and begin this new chapter in my Formula 1 career,” said Gasly, a one-time Grand Prix winner. “Driving for a team that has French roots is something very special. I know the strengths of Alpine having raced against them over the past couple of years and, clearly, their progress and ambition is very impressive.
“I wish to thank Red Bull as this marks the end of our nine-year journey together. It is thanks to their trust and support that I became a Formula 1 driver, and what we’ve achieved with Scuderia AlphaTauri over the last years has been very special.
Also “Looking ahead, I want to give the maximum and utilise all my experience to fight for podiums and ultimately contribute to Alpine’s fight for championships in the future.”