Pierre Gasly, after the Italian GP: “It’s very painful.”
The French driver had an anonymous race this Sunday at Monza. Hindered by their top speed in qualifying, they were never able to find the rhythm to make a comeback.
One week after his podium in Zandvoort, Pierre Gasly experienced a quite difficult reality check this Sunday at Monza. The Frenchman was never able to make any progress from his starting position (17th).
The 16th place finish in a disappointing race, but Alpine had anticipated it. Gasly admits that the team was expecting to struggle at the temple of speed since the beginning of the season, but not to this extent.
« It was very painful. I don’t think we have ever been so lacking in competitiveness compared to our rivals. » Gasly curses into our microphone. « Since the start of the season, we knew this race would be tough. We saw it yesterday, and we would have needed a magic remedy, but it’s tough. »
« We tried different strategies on both cars. The goal was that in case of a Safety Car, either Esteban or I could benefit from it. We took a gamble, but there’s no secret, when you are competitive it tends to work out more or less, but when you are not competitive, it’s more difficult… »
« The most important thing is to understand and quantify this lack of performance. We need to come back next year with a better package. Last week, I was fighting with Carlos Sainz and I was overtaking him [at Zandvoort], and this week I finished almost a lap behind… »
💬 “Un week-end à oublier.”
D’un podium la semaine dernière à P16 aujourd’hui, Pierre Gasly s’exprime sur son week-end compliqué 😮💨#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/iq0FPFagWk
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) September 3, 2023
