Mike Krack has dismissed Pierre Gasly’s claims that the penalty handed to him during the Mexico City Grand Prix for pushing Lance Stroll off track whilst he attempted an overtake was harsh, with the Team Principal of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team insisting everyone knows the rules and the penalty was always going to come once the Frenchman failed to give the place back.
Gasly is two penalty points away from a race ban after the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver was handed his penalty for the Stroll incident at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last Sunday, with the Frenchman pushing the Canadian off track at turn four and staying ahead of him as they both re-joined the track.
No call came from the stewards to give the place back, with Gasly insisting that was the reason why he did not concede the place to Stroll, something he was surprised about.
“I’m a racing driver,” Gasly is quoted as saying by PlanetF1.com. “If I see a gap, I go for a gap.
“If you are not happy about it then tell me to give the position back and I’ll try again. I wasn’t given any comments, so that’s a shame.
“They just need to say it on the radio. That’s what they have done in the past, but for some reason not this time.”
But Krack says that the rules are well known by all teams and drivers, and Gasly only had himself to blame and should have given the place back, with the subsequently penalty call a justified one.
“We were clear on what was going to happen,” Krack is quoted as saying by GPFans. “I wish we would not have to rely on Race Control and he just gives the position back.
“Pierre should have seen we were struggling to get the tyres up to temperature and in that situation, if he gives the position back then two laps later he will have a clear pass.
“He ruined only his own race. You mustn’t always rely on the brains of racing drivers. He could have been told because it was very obvious this was going to happen.”
Five of Gasly’s penalty points have come in battles with Aston Martin drivers, with two points coming his way thanks to contact with Stroll in the Spanish Grand Prix. He also took two points for an incident with Sebastian Vettel in the Austrian Grand Prix before the latest point in Mexico.
The other five points have come from exceeding track limits during the race in Austria, speeding under a red flag in Japan and failing to stay within ten car lengths of the car in front during a safety car period in the United States.
None of the points are due to come off his Superlicence until the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix next year, meaning he has nine race weekends to avoid gaining two penalty points and getting a race ban.