Pierre Gasly impressed in Austin, securing seventh place as Alpine F1 benefitted from crucial setup adjustments.
Pierre Gasly delivered an impressive performance by securing seventh place in qualifying, placing him on the fourth row of the grid. The Alpine F1 driver explained how he managed to have such a quick car despite a relatively quiet start to the weekend.
“We tried to learn a bit more about the car with the Sprint and Sprint Qualifying. We made quite a few setup changes, and it was much better. I felt more comfortable from Q1 onwards, managed to put in some good laps, and had more control,” said Gasly.
“It’s encouraging; seventh place means we’re right behind the four fastest cars, and the gaps with Russell and Piastri are very close, so we’ll take that. But tomorrow, we’ll need to confirm it, try to score points, and consolidate this strong result.”
The Frenchman is currently under investigation for an unsafe release, though he explained he hasn’t yet discussed it with his team: “Not yet, I haven’t seen it. They told me to go, and I did. You can’t see what’s coming; I saw Max there and tried to react, but I haven’t spoken about it with the team yet.”
Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon was eliminated in Q2 and admitted there was little more he could have done with his A524, which is lacking upgrades: “Unfortunately, yes, that was all there was. I was dancing on the edge in the fast section, and when I look at the data, that’s where I lose the most time, but I was on the limit, and there wasn’t much more I could extract.”
“It’s quite positive, I would say. The car’s pace and performance are better than on other tracks, and the upgrades seem to be moving in the right direction. When the track cools down, it appears to be improving, and that’s positive for the team. I hope it will be the same for the next races, and we’ll keep learning.”
Asked about his chances of scoring points, Ocon remains optimistic: “We’re not too far off, to be honest. We’re in the pack, and I hope the start goes well. We’ll have to see where we are after that. I’ll try to seize any opportunities, and if there are any like in the Sprint, that would be great!”
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Gasly shines with P7 in Austin as Alpine finds new form Gasly shines with P7 in Austin as Alpine finds new form