The United States Grand Prix, the 19th round of F1, was a weekend of bumps and kicks for Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri).
In Saturday’s qualifying, he had brake trouble for the third time this season and two races in a row.
When the safety car was introduced, he breached Article 55, Paragraph 7 of the F1 competition regulations by leaving a margin of 10 or more car lengths with the preceding vehicle, and received a 5 second penalty and 2 penalty points added.
The cumulative score of the last 12 months has reached 9 points. As no points expire until May next year, he may be banned from racing in the three remaining races this season. Only 3 points left.
Furthermore, at the time of the pit stop after the ruling, an additional 10 second penalty was given for not using the 5 second penalty properly.
AlphaTauri jacked the front wheels 4.54 seconds after stopping and the rear wheels 4.8 seconds later. The stewards explained: “We will not punish the driver as this is not a serious offense requiring a ban and this was a mistake on the part of the team.”
Gasly finished in 11th place, but was demoted to 14th place by adding 10 seconds.
In addition to Gasly, penalty points were awarded to four other drivers in the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) race.
Nicholas Latifi (Williams) got two points for driving Mick Schumacher (Haas) off the track and George Russell (Mercedes) got two points for punching Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) in the front wing.
It appeared that Russell’s case would not be penalized on the opening lap at Turn 1, but the stewards pointed out that “the entire responsibility for the collision rests on the shoulders of the Mercedes driver”.
Schumacher was given one penalty point for breaking four track limits “without good reason”.
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) was given two penalty goals, along with three penalty kicks for erasing the grid, for his spectacular crash with Fernando Alonso (Alpine).
