“Pierre Gasly has suggested that Lewis Hamilton would have chosen a different line at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if he had not collided with the French driver’s car. The incident occurred when Hamilton attempted to overtake Gasly on lap 43, with the British driver’s Mercedes making contact with the rear of the Frenchman’s Alpine. The collision caused damage to Hamilton’s car, resulting in him being forced to pit for repairs and ultimately dropping out of contention for a podium finish.”
“Pierre Gasly’s diffuser was damaged in the collision, which affected his downforce and ultimately cost him lap time. The FIA stewards investigated the incident, but decided not to take any action. The stewards noted that Hamilton had locked his front right tire into Turn 6, which caused him to approach the turn on a slightly different line at a lower speed than Gasly had anticipated. The unexpected difference in approach led to the two cars colliding.”
“The stewards determined that car 44, driven by Hamilton, made light contact with the rear of car 10, driven by Gasly, in the turn. The stewards found that neither driver was completely at fault for the incident. After the contact, Gasly’s race strategy was impacted, causing him to finish 13th overall. His frustration was also compounded by a team strategy that put him behind his team-mate, Esteban Ocon.”
I’ve tried to keep the essential information while making the writing more concise.
“It wasn’t my day,” Gasly said after the race. “The damage was done when Hamilton collided with my car, causing significant damage to the diffuser. This loss of downforce impacted my race strategy and performance.
“I thought I had braked late enough, but Hamilton went even later. I believe he would have gone straight through the turn had I not been there. I experienced some front graining and locked up a bit, but still managed to make the corner.
“Hamilton missed the braking point and hit the back of my car with considerable
When asked about the lack of a penalty for Hamilton, Gasly expressed his frustration. “It’s harsh, because I lost a lot of time and it was out of my control,” he said. “But on the other hand, he made a mistake that ended up costing me. It’s a tough one to take, but it’s part of racing.”
Gasly also expressed frustration with a team strategy call that saw him lose out to his team-mate.”I was not happy with the strategy call made by the team,” Gasly explained. “It’s not something that should happen, as the leading car should always have priority. I’m sure we’ll learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again. But, with the downforce I was losing, I don’t think there was much more than 10th place to fight for today. So, not the way I wanted to end the year.”
