Alpine F1: Gasly Pushes Hard for Points in Austria

Alpine F1’s Gasly fought fiercely for points, backed by Ocon’s robust challenge in Austria.

Pierre Gasly secured his fourth consecutive points finish this Sunday. The Alpine F1 driver scored a point with a tenth-place finish after an intense race against Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, and Fernando Alonso.

“There were many battles, with Esteban, with Charles. I didn’t get off to a good start and had to recover in turn 3, in turn 4. There were key moments in the race where it was crucial not to lose time,” Gasly explained.

“I gave it my all; by the end, I had no tyres left to close in on Ricciardo, and he managed to get DRS from Magnussen. We were only two seconds shy of eighth place. I’m certain we could have caught them, but this is our fourth race in the points, and considering where we were at the start of the year, it’s positive. We need to keep striving for consistency.”

Asked about his battle with teammate Ocon, Gasly saw no issue: “This is Formula 1; we’re here to race, to fight, and that’s it. I think it was good, there were no instructions, we fought on track, and it got a bit heated. It went well, we managed to score a point, and we’ll see if there was more to be done.”

Ocon had damage to his A524

Esteban Ocon ultimately finished 12th in the race, with damage to his car that he was unaware had affected his performance until after the race when his physical trainer informed him.

“That’s what my physio told me after the race, but the team didn’t see it. We struggled with speed, were very slow and couldn’t keep up with the top 10 pace. Something wasn’t right, and I don’t know if it was because of that,” noted Ocon.

“We’ll look into it, but if that’s the case, we have reason to worry because if a part comes off and there’s no noticeable performance loss, that’s a major concern.”

He also had no issues with the fight against Ocon: “It’s just another battle, two cars fighting for a position, and turn 3 is where it happens. When a car comes out fast, the battle continues into turn 4. But nothing out of the ordinary, it’s a normal fight.”

Ocon had a front-row seat to the clash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris and wasn’t surprised: “I saw everything that happened, I saw it coming!”