Pierre Gasly has insisted every Formula 1 team must "bring their top game" in qualifying at Austria to avoid the same near-misses as in Canada. The Alpine driver was heavily impeded on his run in the first part of qualifying at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after encountering a slow-moving Carlos Sainz, narrowly avoiding a crash with the Ferrari at the final chicane in the tricky conditions. A furious Gasly called for Sainz to be banned over team radio , with the stewards later penalising the Spaniard with a three-place grid penalty. With Austria being one of the shortest tracks on the F1 calendar at just 4.3km, traffic in qualifying has historically been an issue and will pose further headaches given the race hosts two sessions this weekend as part of the Sprint. "Austria is going to be bad," Gasly told media, including RacingNews365.com . "At this specific track, everyone as a team from drivers to engineers, to everyone that can help and support us inside the car to do a better job, will have to be on their top game. "It's a short track, four kilometres, and everybody's trying to get gaps. You don't want to impede anyone and it affects [them]. "It's gonna be tricky, but hopefully we'll everyone's gonna manage it in the best way they can."
Gasly: Impeding can affect entire weekend
Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer branded the incident with Sainz "ridiculous" after pointing out Gasly was in-line for the sixth quickest time instead of falling out in Q1 in Canada. "It had a pretty big impact on our whole race weekend," explained Gasly. "I think as a driver you always try to do your best. There are some tracks which are very easy to control the traffic, then some others which are way more difficult. Montreal is one which is tricky. "I was on the other side in Barcelona with Carlos, then the roles were reversed in Canada. "Sometimes it does penalise your entire weekend not only just qualifying but from the moment you start P17 at the back of the grid. It just changes the entire philosophy of your race."
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