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Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly has said he was not to blame for the crash on his GP2 debut at Monza that earned him a penalty for the next round.



The Frenchman collided with Artem Markelov in race two, sending them slamming into the barriers, after Sergio Canamasas missed the Ascari chicane on the opening lap and rejoined the track at full speed.



Canamasas was later black-flagged from the race after hitting other cars in further incidents, while Gasly was given a five-place grid penalty for the first race of the weekend at Sochi.



"The guys directly in front were very slow because of the incidents, so I had to try to avoid and overtake them," said Formula Renault 3.5 ace Gasly.



"I was forced into Markelov. There was nothing I could do; there were about 10 cars all going for the same 10 metres of track - no room.



"Luckily I am OK, it was a big accident. I have no damage but the car is not the same at all."



Gasly stressed before the event that he would use the Monza weekend to get to grips with GP2, and he admitted that it had been a baptism of fire.



"It was a really late call to join the team and I had everything to learn," he said.



"You can't compare anything to World Series, the car is completely different, so are the tyres and the races.



"I just had to gain experience as quick as possible. The hour [race length] is also something I am not used to and the whole tyre management situation is different."