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Gasly and Stroll at odds over Silverstone shunt
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F1 drivers rarely see eye to eye over their crashes – and that appeared to be the case for Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll after the pair’s coming together at Silverstone, which saw Gasly retire from the race.
Stroll was already in Gasly’s bad books after the Frenchman felt that he’d been overtaken by the Aston Martin when Stroll was off the track at Stowe corner – although the stewards investigated and ruled no further action.
However, a few laps later, Stroll and Gasly came together at the Vale chicane, the impact damaging Gasly’s right-rear suspension and forcing him into retirement.
“We got passed by Lance off the racetrack but apparently it was fine,” was Gasly’s view after the race. “I managed to pass him back and Carlos [Sainz] as well, and in the end we were taken out of the race.
‘All our work is ruined’ – Gasly ‘extremely disappointed’ after collision with Stroll ends his race
“So I’m just extremely disappointed obviously. We’re not fighting for big points but still it would be a small reward. It just feels like all the job and hard work we’re doing is ruined, so extremely disappointed right now.”
With Stroll handed a five-second penalty for the incident, Gasly was asked whether he felt that was a just punishment for his adversary.
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“It doesn’t change my race,” came his reply. “What do you want me to tell you? I’m here talking to you, I didn’t finish the race so… Five seconds – I got a 10-second penalty last week [in Austria, for track limits violations] five hours after the race. Now he’s taking me out of the race and gets a five-second penalty.
“That’s racing nowadays. I’ll race him how I want to race in the future and make sure we score points next time.”
‘I got pushed off the track’ insists Stroll as he defends himself over Gasly collision
From Stroll's point of view, meanwhile, the case was straightforward, as he told the media: “I got pushed off the track both times. So pretty simple for me… Both times I went by him, he gave me no room.”
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Stroll would eventually be classified in P14, while Gasly’s failure to score was compounded by Esteban Ocon retiring from the race on Lap 9 – marking the third time Alpine have failed to score on a weekend this year.
Race Highlights: 2023 British Grand Prix
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