The French driver is just two penalty points away from being forced to sit on the bench during a race.
Pierre Gasly is in real danger of missing a Formula 1 race if he commits recklessness again that the FIA deems worthy of penalty points on his superlicence. According to the rules, when a driver reaches twelve penalty points in a twelve-month period, he will be excluded from the next race.
Gasly, who picked up his 10th penalty point in Mexico after being involved in an incident with Stroll, could hold the dubious honor of becoming the first driver to receive this harsh penalty. Just one (or two, at best) actions deemed dangerous by the FIA, and the Frenchman will be out for a Grand Prix.
The penalty points expire twelve months after the infraction, which is a relief for each driver, but it will not be for Gasly, since his first points will expire on May 22, 2023. This means that he must avoid adding two or more penalty points during the remaining two races of 2022 and the first nine of 2023, a total of 12!
The situation puts his current team, AlphaTauri, in a tough spot, which has probably already put Nyck de Vries on notice – the driver they have signed for 2023 – in case he has to make his debut in Abu Dhabi, in case Gasly accumulates the sanction points in Brazil.
Naturally, this also makes life difficult for Alpine, the team in which the Frenchman will ride next year, as he will follow the first nine races of the season very close to that dreaded penalty. “He will have to be more careful,” warned Otmar Szafnauer, who will be his boss next year.
In recent months, Gasly has received these penalty points for violations such as:
Causing an accident with Stroll in Spain (2), causing an accident with Vettel at the Austrian GP (2) and repeatedly breaking track limits (1), speeding during a red flag in Japan (2), leaving too much space during a safety car in the US (2) and gaining an advantage off the track in Mexico (1).
His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, has eight penalty points, although four of these expire this year. Alex Albon has it worse, with seven, none of which will expire until March 2023.
Instead, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Mick Schumacher only have one; Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton have not added any, and Fernando Alonso has four. To date, no one had gone as far as Pierre Gasly…