Despite scoring his first points for Red Bull Racing in the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly admits that he still needs to “make an effort and adapt” if he is to succeed this season.
For the second race in a row, Gasly failed to qualify in the top, starting the race from thirteenth and some way off the pace of team-mate Max Verstappen.
In the race, Gasly found himself embroiled in the mid-field battle, losing out for a period to both Scuderia Toro Rosso cars. And although the Frenchman would recover and benefit from the late retirement of both the Renault F1 Team cars to finish eighth, he admits to struggling with his new team’s RB15.
“It was quite a difficult race and I’m still not completely comfortable with the car,” said Gasly. “As soon as I try to push, I struggle a lot with the rear and the traction. For sure, I need to see what I can improve to get the maximum out of the car and work with the engineers to see what we can do to make me feel more confident, because at the moment I feel I cannot really push.
“I need to make an effort and adapt, because each car is different, and I will work with the team to find a set-up which fits my driving style better.”
Despite his struggles, Gasly remains positive he can perform better throughout the rest of the season.
“Overall, I think there are also some positives today. After the start the car felt better, I managed to finish inside the points, and now we just need to find the areas we can improve on.
“We will do the work and I’ll do anything I can to arrive stronger in China.”
