Alpine driver Pierre Gasly has been handed a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's British Grand Prix after stewards found him guilty of obstructing Lance Stroll during qualifying at Silverstone.
The penalty drops Gasly from his original 12th-place qualification slot to 15th on the starting grid.
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As a result, Audi's Nico Hulkenberg moves up to 12th, Haas' Ollie Bearman to 13th, and Williams' Carlos Sainz to 14th.
Incident and Investigation
The incident occurred during the first qualifying session when Stroll, on a flying lap, encountered Gasly driving slowly on the racing line near Turn 15.
Stroll was forced off track to complete his attempt.
The FIA reviewed video, telemetry, and team radio evidence before reaching a verdict.
The stewards' report stated that Gasly was on an in-lap and remained on the racing line at slow speed, requiring Stroll to move off line to pass.
Gasly explained to stewards that he had no functioning radio due to a technical issue with the official communications equipment.
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He believed a different car was following him and did not realize Stroll was approaching rapidly on a flying lap.
The Alpine team confirmed the radio failure, which was also verified by Formula One Management.
Despite these circumstances, the stewards determined that Gasly still bore responsibility for his positioning.
The panel noted that alternative information was available to Gasly through his dashboard display, which should have alerted him to Stroll's approach.
The stewards concluded that the absence of a radio warning does not remove a driver's responsibility to avoid impeding another car.
The penalty complicates Alpine's midfield campaign, where they hold fifth place in the 2026 Constructors' Championship with 57 points.
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In other decisions from the session, stewards cleared Esteban Ocon and Isack Hadjar of alleged infractions, while fining Arvid Lindblad's team €5,000 for an unsafe pit lane release.
