Lewis Hamilton didn’t have much to say to Fernando Alonso – who had – after F1 Abu Dhabi GP, as Pierre Gasly talks about his clash.
It was a hectic F1 Abu Dhabi GP for Mercedes’ Hamilton who ended up only ninth after last lap pass on Yuki Tsunoda didn’t work due to snappy moments after passing the Japanese driver. Before reaching there, the Brit already had multiple run-ins.
One of it included a moment against Aston Martin’s Alonso after the Spaniard came out of the pits and slowed at Turn 5 to give Hamilton way by. The idea from him was to have DRS in the following corners and re-pass the Brit to gain track position.
But Hamilton didn’t fall for it as he complained about brake-testing. When asked Alonso, he noted about being an experienced driver and being aware of Hamilton’s DRS games. He recalled the a moment from 2013 when games were played in similar way.
“Lewis is very clever and understands the sport really good, and has a lot of experience, but I have more,” said Alonso to media. “Yes and no, we did the same in Canada, I think in 2012 (actually 2013), so [12] years after that episode, we try to give the DRS to the other guy by breaking into Turn 5, but in both cases, I won, so it is okay.”
When told about Alonso’s response, Hamilton didn’t have much to say as he noted only: “Well, we’re flat out 300m or 400m before the corner, doing 180mph and the guy all of a sudden, he slows down drastically..”
Before these two moments, Hamilton already had trouble after front wing damage when he hit the back of Alpine’s Gasly. The Frenchman was struggling with grip and locked-up at the end of the straight but the Brit was caught out by the late braking.
He touched the back of Gasly to damage his diffuser, while damage his front wing too. “Most of the damage was done when Lewis just came at the back of my car and just destroyed the whole diffuser at the back of it,” said Gasly to media. “After that I was losing a lot of points of downforce.
“With all the downforce I was losing, talking four-tenths a lap for 40 laps. So maybe there was a P10 to fight for with Stroll, but I don’t think there was much more than that. I braked late, I was surprised, I think he would have gone straight if I wasn’t there. I started to have a bit of front graining, I locked up a bit, but still made the corner.
“And I think he just missed the braking point and then basically ran up the back of my car. It was quite an impact but it was just enough to break and lose some part of the diffuser, so not great,” summed up Gasly, who when asked about a penalty, he wasn’t too sure about as it could have been taken as a racing incident too.
“It is harsh because on one side it may lose 15 or 20 second of race time, nothing of my control, on another side, made a mistake and came in the back of my car, so it is a tough one to say but for sure it clearly lost me quite a lot in the race,” said Gasly.
Here’s Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly clash: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-hamilton-damages-his-front-wing-after-contact-with-gasly.1783637699430706495.html
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