Pierre Gasly had a very good performance with seventh place in qualifying, which will place him on the fourth row at the start. The Alpine F1 driver explains how he managed to have such a fast car despite a low-key start to the weekend.
“We tried to learn a little more about the car with the Sprint and the Qualif Sprint, we made a lot of set-up changes and it was a lot better. I felt more comfortable from Q1, I ‘managed to do some good laps, I had more control’ Gasly said.
“It’s encouraging, seventh we are behind the four fastest cars, and even the gaps with Russell and Piastri are very tight so we take it. But tomorrow we will have to confirm, try to get points and confirm this good result.”
The Frenchman is under investigation for an unsafe release, but he explains that he has not yet discussed it with his team: “No not yet, I didn’t see. I was told to get out, I went, we can’t see what’s happening, I saw that Max was there and I tried to react, but I didn’t talk about it with the team.”
Esteban Ocon was eliminated in Q2 and admits that he could not have done better at the wheel of his A524 without changes: “Unfortunately yes, that’s all there was. I was dancing on the limit in the fast section, and when I see the data, that’s where I’m losing the most time, but I was at the limit, there wasn’t much more.”
“It’s quite positive, I would say. The pace of the car and its performance are better than at other circuits, and the developments seem to be going in the right direction. When the track cools down, it seems to be going in the right direction, and it’s positive for the team, I hope it will be the same in the next races and we continue to learn.”
Asked about his chances of points, Ocon remains hopeful: “We’re not that far away, to be honest. We’re in the peloton, I hope the start goes well and we’ll have to see where we are after that. I’ll try to seize the opportunities, and there are some like during the Sprint which will be good!”
Updated at 2:24 a.m.: The FIA only fined Alpine 5,000 euros for releasing Gasly in front of Max Verstappen, a classic sanction for these facts.
Related News :