After a stunning Qualifying for Alpine in the Saudi Arabian GP, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda made contact in the first lap, resulting in both cars retiring. This is a gutting result for Gasly and Alpine who desperately need points to climb the Constructors’ championship standings.
Gasly outlined his interpretation of the lap 1 incident with his former teammate. Ahead in the braking zone, the Frenchman deemed that he had left enough space for the Japanese driver to turn. Unfortunately, Tsunoda understeered in his RB21, resulting in a a small contact that was enough to send Gasly’s A525 into the barrier and interrupt both of their race.
“I had a good run in turn 4, a very good braking because he was kind of stuck behind Carlos. I managed to get ahead of him on the braking zone and I was aware he was on the inside, so I left him as much space as possible to make sure we both make it through the corner.
“Unfortunately, it looked like he understeered off and had this contact which was quite small but unfortunately it just sent the car straight into the wall.”
Gasly finds silver lining in Saudi setback
Not putting the blame on either driver, a frustrated Gasly testified to his confidence going into the Saudi Arabian GP. The 29-year-old expected his Alpine to be on an equal footing with the Williams machine. Disappointed, Gasly would have liked to test his abilities and the car’s newfound pace.
“The incident itself, it’s racing but it’s more the fact that the car looked strong.
“I knew, I mean, I was very confident going into the race that we’ll have the pace to fight those Williams and I think it would have been great just to get a shot at it and see what we can get out of it.”
The French driver was however far from discouraged about the future. Gasly noted the overall pace the car demonstrated in this Saudi Arabian GP, a promising sign for races to come.
“On a positive note, the whole weekend we were competitive and even on this track.”
Reflecting on what could have been, Gasly lamented the missed opportunity for both himself and the team. Despite a weekend that showed clear promise, the early end to his race left a sense of unfinished business. “There is a lot to take,” he admitted, “but it’s just a shame for the whole team not to actually capitalise on the strong weekend we’ve had so far.”
No bad blood between Gasly and Tsunoda
Though the Alpine driver collided with his former AlphaTauri teammate, there is no resentment between the two of them. Gasly merely described the incident as a wrong judgment call.
“I mean, I know his intentions, I know there is huge respect between Yuki and myself so I know it didn’t mean anything bad. It’s more judgement and first lap, cold tyres, etc.”
“At the end, we all fight for our race so it feels like we should have taken slightly more margin” the Frenchman recognized. Nevertheless, racing incidents are an inherent part of Formula 1, he continued: “[…] at the end of the day it’s motorsport and on a track like this it’s hard to pick it up.”
