Gasly set for F1 grid penalty

Pierre Gasly is set to start Formula 1’s British Grand Prix from the rear of the grid after exceeding his power unit allowance for the season.

Ahead of the Silverstone weekend, Gasly required a new battery and set of control electronics for his Renault engine, which will cost the Frenchman 20 grid places.

Because he is due to start from the rear of the field anyway, Alpine has decided to give him an all-new power unit as it aims to reduce the number of grid penalties Gasly will need to serve further down the road.

Gasly was already on his fourth and final V6 engine, turbo and electric motor components, so being able to take a fifth power unit gives him more breathing space in other areas for the coming races.

“We had to change the battery,” Gasly explained on Thursday to Canal+.

“We had a few little problems earlier in the season which meant that I ended up with a faulty battery, another where we had two or three alerts at certain times. So, we needed to change the battery, which meant a 20-place penalty.

“We’re taking the opportunity to add an extra engine because I’ll have to start last in any case.”

With Gasly unlikely to contend for points from the rear of the field, it made Alpine’s decision to hand reserve driver Jack Doohan Gasly’s car for the Australian’s second rookie FP1 outing straightforward.

But the short-term pain it is taking in Silverstone still comes at an unfortunate time as it contends for points with the likes of RB, Aston Martin and the resurgent Haas.

In Austria, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished sixth and eighth respectively to bank 12 points in one go, leapfrogging Alpine to seventh in the standings.

Haas is now 10 points clear, more than the nine points Alpine has managed the entire first half of the season.

“That was a tough one in Austria,” Gasly replied when asked by Autosport about how much of a blow Haas’s big points haul was.

“They scored more points in a race weekend than they scored since the start of the year, so as a team it was far from ideal, but they did a good job.

“They haven’t been competitive everywhere, but still in Austria somehow they always managed to pull off a very strong performance, and that’s what we’ve got to aim at as a team.

“We’ve got to maximise, capitalise on every single opportunity we have. We know we’re going to be in the fight for one or two points because the top eight is…