Pierre Gasly had the best qualifying session for Alpine in 2024. For the first time this season the team made it into Q3 with Gasly’s 1:10.856, finishing a superb 5th in Q2.
However the major risks that he took in Q2 didn’t pay off in Q3, only ending up 10th with a 1:11.311 as he had a massive moment at the last corner, just avoiding crashing into the barriers.
Gasly is been grateful for the Alpine team for all the work they have put in during a challenging season thus far, and he also explained just how on the limit he was to get himself into the final shootout.
“I told before the quali that this was the most important Saturday of my year. And yeah, we showed up, so I’m very happy for all the guys because this year has been a pretty challenging year.
“From a performance side of things, but also for the whole team to keep the motivation up, etc.
“And coming here in Monaco, we knew it’s a track where you have opportunities, where it’s not a classic track. And yeah, we had to take a lot of risks. I took a lot of risks.
“I probably left a tyre mark on every single barrier around the racetrack. But it was definitely worth it because getting that first Q3 of the year definitely brought the biggest smile I’ve seen in the garage for a while. And I’m very pleased for the team.”
Gasly has been very comfortable with the car this weekend, according to him. That gave him enough confidence to push hard and make massive risks.
He also the praised the work of Jack Doohan in the simulator overnight as the Australian helped the team achieve the sweet spot with the car come qualifying.
“Jack [Doohan] did a very good job in the sim. I told him this morning that he arrived with very small eyes.
“But I told him it was very useful in some of the directions. I had clear directions in which I wanted to go with the car and it just confirmed that sort of feeling from his test.
“It’s a track where you know you need to nail the quali lap and I felt connected with the car. I felt confident. That’s why I think I pushed that hard.
“I don’t think I’ve ever pushed the limit as much as I did this year. But I just felt that the car was giving me what I needed and it was nice to feel that connection here in the streets of Monaco.
The A524 has been extremely disappointing to kickstart the season. While P10 and P11 on the grid is massive progress versus where they were in Bahrain, this is a circuit where a driver can make a bigger difference.
“I don’t want to get too excited. We know it’s kind of a one-time. And that’s the magic of Monaco. We said it before the weekend.
“We run the car in a very different way than any other tracks. It’s because of the bumpiness etc. It’s where you put that risk level and this year was very, very high. But it was definitely worth it.”
However, the risks he made in Q2 didn’t pay off to finish higher in Q3, as he clipped the wall at the last corner and punctured the rear left tyre. However, it was worth it as all the risks taken in Q1 and Q2 to make Q3 paid off.
“That’s what I said on the last lap. Unfortunately, I clipped the wall in the chicane and punctured the rear left. So I finished on three wheels.
“That risk that I took is also the reason why I got to Q3. I took a lot of risks the whole session and touched the barriers on many occasions. But it was the amount of risks we had to take to actually make it to that top ten.
“So definitely worth it. We know tomorrow we’re going to be in that battle with the two cars ahead of us. But it was the most important Saturday of the year. And that’s the one we performed the best. So I’m very pleased for the team.”
