The FIA have issued AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver with a post-race penalty at the Japanese Grand Prix for speeding under red flags in the tractor incident. Gasly started from the pit-lane at Suzuka, but picked up debris from Carlos Sainz Jr's opening lap crash, forcing a pitstop to remove it. As the field snaked around behind the Safety Car, Gasly tried to catch up to the pack, but based a recovery vehicle on track at speed, seconds after the race was red-flagged. The 2023 Alpine driver was apoplectic at the tractor being on the track, at the same venue where Jules Bianchi suffered fatal injuries in 2014 in similar conditions after hitting a stationary vehicle. However, the FIA still punished him for breaking the rules.
Gasly penalised
Gasly breached Article 57.2 of the Sporting Regulations which state that cars should return slowly to the pit-lane in event of a red-flag. The stewards found Gasly reached speeds of up to 251km/h - 155mph - but that in talks with him, he "conceded that there could have been marshals or obstacles on track and admitted that he was too fast." In Gasly's defence, the stewards found that: 'although the speed could not by any measure be regarded as “slow” as required in the regulations, it was slower that the maximum speed that could be achieved under these conditions.' Also taken into account was his shock, or should that be disbelief, at seeing the tractor on the racing line. As a result, Gasly was given a drive-through penalty - who has been converted to 20s added to his race-time. He was also given two penalty points on his super licence, taking his tally for the 12 month period to nine. The penalty drops him from 17th to 18th in the final classification - moving Mick Schumacher up from last to last but one.
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