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via Imago

via Imago

12  points in a 12-month cycle. That is what a driver should aim to avoid when it comes to penalty points on one’s super license. While nobody has fallen prey to the point system resulting in a ban, the Alpine man Pierre Gasly seems to have found himself in a pickle with a racing incident in the Australian GP involving his teammate, Esteban Ocon. And even though Gasly has apologized to the team for the collision that took both Alpines out, I don’t think an apology would work with the FIA.

Pierre Gasly had a great qualifying where he put his Alpine in Q3. If you think that was great, he made up a few places in the race all set to bring home a hefty chunk of much-deserved points for the French team. However, the eventful race which made for a spectacle resulted in a double DNF for the Renault-owned outfit after the second restart on lap 57 where the drivers wanted to bite on more than they can chew, and amongst them was the Frenchman Gasly.

USA Today via Reuters

While the incident could have been avoided, it wasn’t. As a result of the same, the man who already had a race-ban sword looming over his head may very well see the end of the nightmare. Standing at only 2 penalty points shy from warming the bench, the dreaded day might come in as early as the next GP of Azerbaijan.

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While the Alpine man may face a clampdown by the FIA, his boss, Otmar Szafnauer, has openly criticized the vague penalty system and called for a more black-and-white nature of the rules.

Pierre Gasly’s Boss Otmar Szafnauer has openly called out the FIA

While his outcry wasn’t given any support due to the team’s wanting to take advantage of the fact that the Alpine’s Gasly may fall prey to a race ban, Otmar has gone out to make a point to FIA. He has asked them to become crystal clear with their rules and not hand out penalty points as a hobby.

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via Reuters

As quoted by Motorsport-total, Szafnauer said, “Firstly, what should you be penalized for in the future? And I think it’s right that you shouldn’t be penalized for things like course limitations, but for dangerous driving, which was always the intention.”

“I don’t know how things like track limits or too far from the safety car were ever included in this rule because that’s not dangerous driving. However, that’s one thing and I agree with the [new] interpretation the FIA.”

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Do you think Gasly is looking at a race ban soon enough? Let us know in the comments below.