Pierre Gasly is not expecting a repeat of the neck problems that plagued him last year as Formula One heads to Brazil for the penultimate round of the championship.
It’s the Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda driver’s second visit to the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace and he said he enjoyed his experience last season.
“Last year was my first race in Sao Paulo and I enjoyed the experience. You get a real feel for just how important Formula 1 is in Brazil, with Ayrton Senna and the other champions it produced in the past.
“I really appreciated that and I also thought the track layout was very good. It has a lot of character with an interesting variety of corners and kerbs that you have to ride, I enjoyed driving it.”
Last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix saw the Frenchman start from the back of the grid and is hoping for a better result this year and wouldn’t mind some rain like in 2012 and 2016.
“In the race, I started from down the back of the grid with penalties and managed to finish not far off the points in twelfth. I’m looking forward to fighting for points again, after we have taken tactical penalties in the last few races to maximise our chances in these final two races of the season.
“It often rains in Sao Paulo and I love driving in the wet, because it makes life a bit more complicated for the drivers so it can be more fun and the driver has a greater impact on performance. Naturally, coming from Normandy, I drove a lot in the wet when I was starting in karts.”
Brazil is one of the few anticlockwise circuits and Gasly admits his neck felt it after the race last year but hopes for no issues this time around.
“Another interesting point is that the track is anticlockwise and all of the straights are not really straight, so even there you are always turning, sometimes for around 15 seconds in the opposite direction to usual.
“I remember from last year you can feel it in your neck, but I’ve prepared for that specifically, so I don’t expect any problems.”
