Pierre Gasly’s Impressive Qualifying Performance in Bahrain
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was pleasantly surprised by his strong qualifying performance in Bahrain, securing a third-row start for tomorrow’s race. With just 0.3 seconds separating him from the pace, he finished fifth ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen respectively.
Gasly’s Optimistic Outlook on Tomorrow’s Race
In an interview with Sky Sports F1 after the session, Gasly joked, “If we can be a thorn in the side of these top teams every now and then, that would be great.” He attributed the team’s success to favorable conditions and expressed confidence in their potential. “The window is very narrow, but we’ve got some fast guys behind us,” he said, hinting at a possible battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in the early laps, which he hopes to avoid.
Reflecting on his journey, Gasly revealed that the team wasn’t expecting to fight so high up the grid until his “mental” Q3 lap. “Before qualifying we thought we’d be fighting for P10 or P9 at best,” he explained, “but you always give it your best shot and I really managed to improve from Q1 to Q3.” He added, “Three tenths off pole is quite mental, it was a very good day for us as a team… now we need those first points.
Gasly’s Pride in Alpine’s Progression
Looking back at the struggles Alpine faced this time last year, Gasly expressed his happiness with the car’s performance. “12 months ago, we were absolutely nowhere, we were P20 and struggling,” he said, “so when I see what I could do today with the car, it just makes me very happy and very proud of what the guys have done so far.” He praised the car’s front grip and commended the team for nailing their last few runs.
Gasly’s Determination for the Upcoming Race
Looking ahead to the race, Gasly vowed to “fight with what [he] has.” He acknowledged that today’s package was good enough to secure them P5 and expressed his intention to hold onto it as much as possible. The Alpine driver will start from fourth following Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s penalty.
