Starting from ninth on the grid at the US Grand Prix Sprint Race. Pierre Gasly aimed to secure a points finish and make significant progress up the grid. The French driver executed his plan impressively, benefitting from early overtakes on both Oscar Piastri and Alexander Albon, ultimately finishing in eighth place.
George Russell’s five-second penalty provided an additional boost for Gasly, as he had been maintaining a competitive pace not too far behind the Mercedes driver.
In a post-race interview, Gasly expressed his satisfaction with his strong performance, stating: “I’m really happy; I did a strong race, starting in P9, managed to get a good start, pass Alex straight away and then after that, a nice move on Oscar to get to 8”
Gasly also highlighted the importance of making early moves in a competitive field. He explained his pre-race strategy to Canal +, saying: “What I had said before the race was that we had to manage to pass the Williams right from the start because we know they are extremely fast on the straights.
“That’s what we managed to do. And then, we knew we had to try to be aggressive, stay in the right group from the beginning. I managed to make a nice move on Piastri, catch up a bit on Russell.
“Towards the end of the race, we had a bit more degradation than them, so we lost some ground. But with the penalty, the goal was to stay within the five seconds, and that’s what we did.”
Gasly also stressed the importance of finding the right balance and set-up for the car, especially considering the unique challenges posed by the circuit. But, he emphasised that their position and performance are promising for Sunday’s race, noting. “In terms of balance and car behaviour, it has evolved a lot as well.
“So, we will have to work well tonight to see how we can optimize the length of the stints we do. I think we will manage to find a few things that will make us more competitive tomorrow. We will have our cards to play. We are in the right group, and we will try to go after what we can.”
The result moves the Frenchman up to P10 in the Drivers’ Championship, displacing Lance Stroll in the process.
