Gasly defends himself and the FIA denies that Alonso influenced their decisions
Autor: @motores
Fernando Alonso's race was ruined at the first corner in Istanbul Park and Pierre Gasly has been pointed out by many as the culprit. This happens after some forceful words from the Spanish against the FIA.
In the days leading up to the Turkish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso was very critical of the FIA and part of the press after what happened in Sochi. And this weekend at Istanbul Park, the Spanish driver has been the protagonist as a result of two incidents that occurred during the race.
Fernando Alonso, who started fifth, fell to the last positions in the first corner after touching Pierre Gasly, a circumstance for which the Frenchman was penalized with 5 seconds. The same punishment that Alonso himself received minutes later for crashing into Mick Schumacher and making him spin.
After the race, the Alpine driver offered his point of view on both events, something that was also done by the other protagonist, Pierre Gasly. "There was a contact. I haven't really seen the footage. Obviously, it was very tight with Sergio (Pérez) on the inside and Fernando on the outside. So obviously there wasn't much space. I don't know if the penalty was the right thing or not, I need to take a look at the footage first.
"Being fair to myself, I really don't know where I could have gone. But it is complicated. It is the first corner and obviously there is a high probability that something will happen. I don't want to be involved in any kind of accident that will ruin my race. So I tried to stay between these two cars, but I didn't have much space," the Frenchman said.
The FIA defends its independence
Michael Masi, race director, also offered his explanations about what happened, emphasizing the null influence of Fernando Alonso's criticisms on the decisions of the sports commissioners.
"All drivers have the right to have their views and comments, either internally or to the media, and that's fine. The rules apply equally to everyone. You have the right, but we judge each and every incident by looking at the actual incident and what happens," said the Australian.
"We are very fortunate to have a very good group of stewards throughout the year and I can tell you that this does not put any additional pressure on them," he concluded.
