Pierre Gasly's difficult British Grand Prix weekend took another hit after Formula 1 stewards confirmed a post-qualifying penalty. The punishment was handed down because of an incident at Silverstone.
Gasly was supposed to start in 12th place on Sunday's race, but was called to the stewards after he was accused of blocking Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll in Q1. The Frenchman was given a standard three-place grid penalty after the FIA reviewed video footage, team radio and in-car camera evidence, which showed he needlessly blocked Stroll.
The decision sees Gasly move from 12th to 15th on the starting grid for the British Grand Prix.
All About Pierre Gasly’s Penalty at British GP
The incident happened at Turn 15 in the first qualifying session, according to the FIA stewards' report.
Gasly was on an in-lap while Stroll was on a flying lap. The Alpine driver stayed on the track at a lower pace, forcing Stroll to go off the track to finish his qualifying attempt.
Gasly stated during the hearing that he didn't have a working team radio at the time and thought another driver, Kimi Antonelli, was behind him and not Stroll.
(Photo by Sam Bagnall/Sutton Images)
Alpine representatives also pointed out that they were unable to warn Gasly because of a technical issue with Formula One Management's communications equipment, something that was confirmed by FOM.
The stewards took those factors as unfortunate but decided that they did not absolve the driver of the duty not to obstruct another vehicle. They also pointed out that the information on the dashboard that Gasly had should have warned him that a car on a timed lap was coming up to him. As a result, the standard three-place grid penalty was applied.
Alpine's British GP Weekend Gets Tougher
The penalty is a huge blow for Alpine's midfield battle. The team currently sits in 5th place in the 2026 Formula 1 World Constructors' Championship with 57 points.
Gasly will now be starting from 15th place, rather than 12th, and a points finish will be much harder around the high-speed Silverstone circuit. In a separate issue, FIA also penalized Cadillac's Sergio Perez for an incident during the sprint session at Silverstone.
The team will face an uphill battle on race day, but Alpine will not incur any other sporting or financial penalties beyond the grid drop.