Pierre Gasly has called for changes to the engine penalty system after a farcical Q2 played out during qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman, along with both Red Bull drivers opted not to run in the second part of Saturday's session as there was little point in putting any further stress on the engine given their starting positions were already known.
“For me the main thing is you need to find a solution to give different penalties,” Gasly said.
“When you look at the qualifying where in Q2 all five cars from 11th to 15th didn’t run I think that looks really silly.
“The regulation at the moment doesn’t push the team to run the car in qualifying.”
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Unintentionally, however, Renault saw P11 and P12 as guaranteed and also opted not to send their drivers out to ensure they had a free choice of tyres on which to start the race.
This proved the perfect call two weeks ago in Singapore, as those who started on the Hypersoft became stuck behind Sergey Sirotkin, while those just outside the top 10 all moved up into the points.
“I think they knew that they didn’t have the pace and they prefer to start on Ultrasoft or Soft tyres compared to the Hyper which will be pretty tough to keep alive in the race,” the Toro Rosso driver said.
“They knew that without driving they will start 11th and 12th because we will not run anyway in Q2.
“Let’s see if it pays off – if they finish fifth and sixth tomorrow it was the right choice.”
