Pierre Gasly, the opportunist! The Norman collected ten crucial points on Sunday by finishing 5th in the Qatar Grand Prix, his second best result of the season after his incredible podium in Brazil. Points which allow Alpine to move back ahead of Haas in the Manufacturers' championship in 6th place, now five points ahead of the American team.
However, his race had started badly: starting 11th, an average start had relegated him to 12th place. Nevertheless, thanks to the set-up changes made on the A524 after the Sprint, Pierre Gasly adopted a solid racing pace to return to the Top 10. The French driver then took advantage of the second Safety Car to stop and climb to 6th place.
Despite a big scare on the restart with a wheel lock where he could have hit the drivers in front of him, the Rouennais managed to stay in contact with the leaders before grabbing 5th position after Lando Norris' heavy penalty. A hard-fought position ahead of Carlos Sainz in the final laps of the race which allowed Alpine to arrive in Abu Dhabi, the scene of the last race of the season, with a small margin of points ahead of Haas.
Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 5th du GP du Qatar : “It was an incredible race, I'm really happy. The car worked very well, we managed well. I didn't have a very good start, I got blocked and I lost positions. I tried to stay calm in the car and I felt good, I managed the tires well. I managed to pass Tsunoda, Alonso, I was faster than Magnussen. When he stopped, I tried to attack and we were really fast. It's very positive: we made some changes which helped us compared to the Sprint race. Afterwards, we managed to get away with it at the end of the race with the hard tires, there were 2-3 things happening in front, it was also very hot with Carlos [Sainz] on the last laps to keep him behind. We had to defend a lot but in the end, we managed to hold on so we are very happy. »
(On his defense of Sainz) “It wasn't easy because I had to save a little on my tires and fuel… There were a lot of things to manage. What we will remember is the performance. We were really fast. I'm satisfied, it's been a few races [qu’on est performant]. We saw it in Las Vegas, we weren't able to score the points we should have by starting 3rd (retirement due to engine failure, Editor's note). In the last races, we are very clearly in the match and we know how important these points are for us, for the championship. Now, we will have to stay focused: there is a week of work remaining which will be important for the whole team. »
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