The clash between Gasly and Hartley is due to a “misunderstanding”

Despite themselves, the Toro Rosso de Pierre Gasly et Brendon Hartley have transformed a soporific Chinese Grand Prix with a fiery finish in Shanghai on Sunday. Their collision on the 35th lap actually allowed Red Bull to recall their two drivers to the pits and allow them to adopt an aggressive and winning strategy.

The image of the two cars facing each other at the hairpin certainly displeased Franz Tost, the team principal of the Italian team. “The collision was due to a misunderstanding of instructions”, He explains. « The team told me on the radio that we were going to swap positions with Brendon, indicates Pierre Gasly. So, I went to the inside at the end of the straight, thinking that he was going to give me space. Unfortunately, I don't think he saw me, I couldn't do anything. I apologized to him. »

Brendon Hartley confirms the official version of a misunderstanding of the orders. “Pierre and I had totally different strategies. JI planned to let him pass at the exit of the hairpin, as I had done previously in the race. »

Brendon Hartley then retired due to a gearbox problem. Pierre Gasly continued an anonymous race (18th): “I broke my front wing, then my steering wheel was twisted, it was very difficult to drive normally. »

Discover the analysis of the Chinese GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2161 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.