Pierre Gasly felt he “underachieved” in the Spanish Grand Prix after qualifying fourth fastest but only finishing 10th.
The Frenchman was poised to start on the second row of the grid before losing six places following qualifying on Saturday for impeding Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen in two separate incidents.
Gasly was handed a three-place penalty for each infringement, relegating him to 10th for the start.
Buried in the pack, the punishment set the tone of the race for Gasly who lost out at the start before battling with the midfield for the balance of the race.
“I’m disappointed,” he said following Sunday’s race.
“Qualifying fourth, finishing P10 is clearly not what we would have liked – we lost six positions before the race even started.
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“(It was) Always going to be more messy in the middle of the pack. Into T2 we were three-wide with Checo (Sergio Perez) and I had to open to avoid contact, ended up in the gravel, losing another four positions.
“So by the end of Lap 1 I’m 14th, 10 places behind where we qualified. (That) changes your entire race.”
Gasly was left frustrated that his race in Spain was so heavily compromised by the Saturday penalties.
“We did some mistakes (in qualifying), and we pay the price for it – quite a big price I must say,” he added. “Losing six positions for the guys that finished P1 and P2 in qualifying.”
Stuck in traffic, Gasly found himself caught in a DRS train at the back of the top 10 and having to protect his tyres as he ran in turbulent air.
That compromised his pace and, ultimately his final result.
“I don’t think we had the pace for Carlos (Sainz, who finished fifth) but at least in front of the two Astons, I think we had the pace, and that’s positive for Montreal,” he assessed.
Formula 1 heads to Montreal next for the Canadian Grand Prix, taking place over the June 16-18 weekend.
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