F1 car wheeled off Belgian Grand Prix grid minutes before race in huge blow
Gasly had headed out onto the track with the rest of his rivals for his reconnaissance laps of the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps ahead of the first of two races this weekend. The Frenchman would have been eyeing a possible points finish after superbly qualifying eighth on the grid for the Sprint.
But he never even got the chance to start after reporting a loss of power while heading to the grid. Alpine called him into the pit lane but Gasly ignored that request, as he pulled up at the back of the grid as usual to be wheeled to his starting spot.
His engineers did exactly that, but it soon became clear that the problem was more serious than they had hoped. They took the engine cover off the car and spotted a problem that could not be fixed on the grid, and so the car was wheeled back tot he garage just a few minutes before the start of the Sprint.
And the team confirmed shortly after that the car had suffered a water leak issue and that Gasly would not be able to start. The 29-year-old was soon out of his car and looking frustrated as he spoke to team boss Flavio Briatore and his engineers back in the garage.
To make matters worse for the team, Gasly's team-mate Franco Colapinto was set to start from the pit lane after changes were made to his car. The Argentine had qualified in the bottom five anyway and so was already unlikely to score points.
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