According to FIA Formula 1 race director Michael Masi, Pierre Gasly was penalized for contact with Fernando Alonso in the Turkey GP because the Frenchman was entirely to blame.

On the first lap, Gasly collided with Alonso’s rear wheel at Turn 1, forcing the Alpine driver into a spin and thus ending the former world champion’s chances of gaining points.

Often, first-lap contact is deemed as a racing incident by the stewards, but on this occasion, the stewards agreed that Gasly should be penalized.

They also overlooked the fact that Gasly had Sergio Perez of Red Bull on his inside.

Gasly was given a five-second penalty, which he took during his pitstop, as well as two points on his license. He finished sixth, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The stewards determined that “GAS caused a collision with Car 14 (ALO) during Lap 1.” GAS attempted to negotiate T1 with PER on the inside and car 14 (ALO) on the outside. At the exit of the corner, ALO was slightly ahead of GAS when the two cars collided, forcing ALO to spin.

“The stewards determine that GAS was predominantly at fault for the collision, as he did not leave enough space for ALO on the outside.

“It should also be pointed out that the stewards do not consider this incident as an unavoidable Lap 1 Turn 1 contact between two cars, as GAS was not sandwiched between two cars when he touched ALO’s car.”

Masi emphasized that the important issue was that Gasly was held accountable in accordance with the procedures agreed on prior to the season.

“One of the things if we go back to the start of the year, if you recall, pre the first event was that following discussions with the drivers and the teams is that we had to sort of ratchet back a little bit the let them race principles in general,” he said.

“And one of them was first-lap incidents , and that if a driver was wholly to blame for an incident, then it would likely result in a penalty.

“And that one there was the stewards determined that Pierre was wholly to blame for the incident. And as a result, a five-second penalty was imposed.”

When asked to compare the Turkish incident to the penalized first-lap contact between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at Imola, Masi stated that the two incidents were not the same.

“I think if you look at the Max and Lewis one, it’s one of those the wholly or predominantly, under our regulations. So we’ve said, and the way that for ease of interpretation, let’s call it, for everyone’s benefit, is that if someone is wholly to blame on lap one, it will result in a penalty.

“If it takes two to tango, then it would be likely on lap one not result in anything, or if there’s more than the two cars involved. But if it’s quite clear, two cars, one has done it, then a penalty would happen.”

Masi stated that the stewards had thought about whether Perez’s presence alongside Gasly played a role before discounting it.

“So that was one of the things why it probably took a little bit longer at the start there to have a closer look at, is that obviously Sergio was on the inside, but once it was quite clear from all of the footage and everything available, that’s why they determined that it was a five second penalty.”

Gasly stated that Perez’s presence did play a part, as he was trying to avoid the Red Bull.

“There was contact and I haven’t really seen the footage” he said. “For me it was tight with Sergio inside me and Fernando was on the outside, so honestly there wasn’t space, but yes there was contact.

“I did the penalty, I don’t know if it was the right thing or not. I need to look at the footage first.

“I saw Fernando was there, I also saw Sergio was there, and I tried to go where I could. We know it is always usually not a good mix when there are that many cars. I don’t have any other similar situation that comes to mind. That is just the way it is.”

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