Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz amongst the top 10 drivers in crash damage costs

Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz are amongst the top ten drivers who have cost their teams the most in crash damages. Gasly currently leads the list due to his expensive crash with his teammate Esteban Ocon in Melbourne.

It is no secret that F1 cars are expensive to repair, with teams bearing the bills of their drivers' incidents. Gasly collided with his teammate Esteban Ocon in the closing stages of the 2023 F1 Australian GP, wrecking a significant part of his car in the process.

The Frenchman also suffered a freak firey incident during Baku's practice session before crashing out completely unprovoked in the following qualifying session. As a result, the Alpine driver tops the list of drivers who have caused the most crash damage, with an estimated $1,389,000 in damages so far in 2023.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finds himself on the list for his uncharacteristic crash during Monaco's FP3, which revealed Mercedes' newly introduced revised floor to the world.

Here's the list of the top ten drivers who have caused maximum crash damages to their cars so far this year, as per a user on Reddit:

1) Pierre Gasly - $1,389,000

2) Carlos Sainz - $1,362,000

3) Alex Albon - $1,274,000

4) Sergio Perez - $1,082,000

5) Nyck de Vries - $895,000

6) Esteban Ocon - $847,000

7) Yuki Tsunoda - $810,000

8) Lando Norris - $620,000

9) Lewis Hamilton - $525,000

10) Lance Stroll - $515,000

Lewis Hamilton has been urging Mercedes to make fundamental changes to its car for over a year

Hamilton claims the team has now finally looked into the changes he had been asking for over the past year. He believes that the team has made progress in terms of developing their car concept, according to his suggestions for the future.

The Briton reported a brake issue in Austria, along with massive oversteer and understeer. The Red Bull Ring did not suit the Mercedes W14, which was seen sliding around excessively over the course of the 71-lap race.

Speaking to the on-site media in Austria, the Briton said:

“Ultimately, there are fundamental changes that have to change for next year. And I’ve been asking for it for over a year. So, I expect to have that in the future, which I think will definitely help."

"But it’s not only that, it’s the rear end, and how it rotates through a corner. But we’re working on that, and the team are very, very focused on that."

With the Silver Arrows set to bring more upgrades to Silverstone this weekend, it will be interesting to watch Lewis Hamilton's progress.