"It was clearly recognisable"- Former F1 driver justifies Pierre Gasly's penalty due to tractor incident at 2022 Japanese GP

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher claims that both Pierre Gasly and the FIA are to blame for the bizarre tractor incident at the 2022 Japanese GP. The AlphaTauri driver was left furious after coming across a recovery vehicle on the rain-affected track.

Schumacher believes both parties are to blame - the FIA for allowing a recovery vehicle on the track while cars were still driving, and Gasly for speeding to catch up with the rest of the field.

The tractor was on the track to remove Carlos Sainz's wounded Ferrari after he crashed out on the first lap of the race. Pierre Gasly was attempting to catch up to the rest of the field under the safety car when he came across the tractor. He was then heard voicing his anger over the team radio. While many were outraged at the FIA for awarding the former Red Bull driver with a drive-through penalty, Ralf Schumacher claims that he understands both perspectives.

In his column for Sky Sports Germany, Schumacher wrote:

"I can understand the drivers' criticism. They have pointed out that they don't want to see any of these tractors while there are still cars on the track. Nevertheless, that doesn't justify Gasly chasing the field at 250 km/h at this point either. That is anything but clever. I think both sides have to question themselves."

He added about Pierre Gasly:

"I think the penalty for Gasly is right and understandable, because it was clearly recognisable that the race had been stopped. There is also the rule that you should drive at walking pace and be able to stop at any time – and for good reason, because there could be people on the track."

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Red Bull to receive substantial money from Alpine for Pierre Gasly

Red Bull is set to receive quite a fortune from Alpine for Pierre Gasly ahead of the 2023 F1 season. As per reports, the French driver will replace Fernando Alonso at Alpine next season and has been released by Red Bull for an amount of $10 million.

The transfer was made official during the 2022 F1 Japanese GP when Alpine announced Gasly as their second driver while AlphaTauri announced Nyck de Vries as his replacement.

Meanwhile, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has claimed that Gasly is exactly what the French outfit is looking for in a driver - someone who is fast, with experience and youth on his side. He told the media:

"The three things we wanted were naturally speed, a fast driver, one with experience, and also youth at the same time. And adding all three things up there aren't many people that have all that and Pierre Gasly definitely does. We thought he was a great fit for us. So we put him on our shortlist, and then went about getting it done."

Alpine is set to feature the sport's first all-French driver lineup since 1994, leading to a lot of anticipation from fans around the world.