Gasly gets three-place British GP grid penalty after Stroll block

Pierre Gasly was handed a three-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix after Formula 1 stewards found he impeded Lance Stroll during Q1 qualifying at Silverstone. The FIA said Gasly was on an in-lap at Turn 15, stayed on the racing line at slow speed and forced Stroll, who was on a flying lap, to take evasive action offline. The penalty dropped Gasly from 12th on the provisional grid to 15th for Sunday’s race, unless other penalties change the order.

Gasly and Alpine attended a hearing before the stewards made their decision. Alpine argued that Gasly could not be warned because of a communications problem involving Formula One Management equipment, and Gasly said his team radio was not working and he thought Kimi Antonelli was the car behind him. The stewards rejected that defense, saying the circumstances were unfortunate but did not remove Gasly’s responsibility to avoid blocking another car and that he still had enough information, including dashboard data, to do so.

The ruling updated the published starting order at Silverstone and moved Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz up one place each. Kimi Antonelli is set to start from pole position. Gasly arrived at the British Grand Prix having scored points in six of the season’s first eight races, with a best result of third in Monaco, but the penalty altered his race-day outlook and the midfield grid order.