Pierre Gasly Azerbaijan GP pit-lane penalty slammed by Red Bull

Pierre Gasly

Gasly pit-lane penalty slammed by Red Bull

Does the punishment fit the crime?

Matthew Scott

Saturday 27 April 2019 14:06

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner lashed out at the decision to enforce a pit-lane start on Pierre Gasly at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Frenchman was punished after failing to report to the weighbridge wen called by the FIA at the end of FP2.

The stewards' report made no mention of Gasly or Red Bull attempting to explain the infraction, raising the likelihood that the driver simply failed to notice his racing number on LED monitors at the pit-lane entry.

The pit-lane start is a mandatory punishment in the FIA's regulations but Horner believes it is too harsh.

"He committed a crime, there is no doubt about that," Horner told Sky Sports F1.

"The argument is whether the penalty fits the crime. In my opinion, it doesn't. It's a Friday.

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"If he had been running 50 kilos underweight, his penalty would have been less than what he actually got for missing that light.

"This regulation is a hangover from when we used to have qualifying on a Friday and if qualifying on Friday got cancelled, then they would refer back to the times of the previous practice.

"It is about as draconian as you can possibly get."

Horner believes the arcane nature of this punishment is just one in a similar string of issues that Liberty Media ought to look at.

He added: "This regulation was discussed this [Saturday] morning and Ross Brawn, Chase Carey, they all agreed [with Horner].

"Let's have a good go through these regulations as some of them refer back to instances that are irrelevant now.

"And let's tidy up these silly penalties that don't match the crime being committed, particularly on a Friday."