How F1 canceling the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix helps Pierre Gasly

As an athlete, if you reach the pinnacle of your sport you must have a love of competition. Formula 1 drivers are no different. When F1 made the decision to cancel this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, while drivers supported the move, many outlined how much they love racing when reacting to the news on social media or elsewhere.

However, one driver likely breathed a sigh of relief following the announcement.

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly.

Earlier this season we outlined how the points Gasly had accumulated on his FIA Super License had put him on the cusp of a one-race penalty ban. FIA Super Licenses, which are necessary to participate in F1, work in a similar fashion to non-commercial driver’s licenses: You receive points for infractions, and if you accumulate a certain amount of points in a one-year period, you face a ban. Specifically, if a driver accumulates 12 points over a calendar year, then they are hit with a one-race penalty ban.

However, penalties expire after that same calendar-year period.

Thanks to a one-point penalty that he received at the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, when race officials judged that Gasly had forced Lance Stroll off the track and gained an advantage, Gasly entered the 2023 F1 season with ten points on his Super License, and in danger of a one-race penalty. His first scare came at the end of the Australian Grand Prix, when he collided with teammate Esteban Ocon following a late-lap restart.

F1 officials judged that collision a “first lap racing incident,” and decided not to enforce any penalties.

Still, Gasly was sitting on ten points entering this weekend, and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. However, with that race now canceled, the two oldest points on his Super License — handed down when he caused a collision with Stroll during the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix — are set to expire on Monday.

That will drop him down to eight points on his Super License, putting him in the clear.

For now.