The British Grand Prix just wasn’t about Brits Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris putting on a show for the home fans. As things turned out, things got oh so spicy as went moved further down the grid. The midfield of the F1 grid had a titanic battle during race-day with the Williams of Alex Albon dueling with the Scuderia and Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll getting their elbows out both inside and outside the cockpit.
The Gasly-Stroll duel began at the Safety Car restart as Lance Stroll put the move on the Frenchman, albeit by seemingly running off the track. In the aftermath, no penalties were dished out to the Canadian. However, a sequel soon followed with the exact same plot, however, this time around Gasly sustained race-ending damage.
Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly trade blows
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After the race, understandably appalled, Gasly went on a tirade, saying, “I have already had to pay the price for these kinds of incidents in various situations. That just doesn’t feel fair, that inconsistency. For next race, I assume it is allowed to leave the track to overtake someone. But if I do, I’ll probably get a penalty.”
A fiercely contested couple of corners between Gasly and Stroll ⚔️#BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/qsHBQKtB8N
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 11, 2023
For the second coming, Stroll was indeed bestowed with a 5-second time penalty. But in light of Gasly’s rant, Stroll sent a few hilarious digs his way, too. Stroll was quoted as saying, “I’ll meet him in the parking lot later,” jokingly by Grandepremio.com.
But the Canadian was still pretty miffed about his reprimand. “I was forced off the track both times when I tried to pass him. So, I don’t know exactly why I was punished, because I wasn’t given any space.” [translated via Google Translate]
While it was all jokes for Stroll, in the immediate aftermath he wasn’t so kind towards the Alpine driver.
Stroll blames Gasly for British GP collision
It really isn’t that easy to judge the exact specifics of an incident when we are watching it unfold from home. However, the Canadian Aston Martin driver had front-row seats to the fireworks being set off by the duo.
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Karun takes a closer look at the clashes between Stroll and Gasly during the British GP 👇 pic.twitter.com/PCHLU60xTu
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 9, 2023
After the race, Eurosport quoted him as pinning the complete blame on Gasly. When asked who he thought was at fault, Stroll replied, “Well, if I was given more room I wouldn’t have had to come back on the track and we wouldn’t have touched. So you can decide.”
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Who do you think was at fault here?