Pierre Gasly says he is excited to get racing at Silverstone this weekend despite the Frenchman having a poor start to his career with Red Bull Racing that has seen him fail to secure a top four finish in any of the first nine races of 2019.
The Frenchman moved to Red Bull from Scuderia Toro Rosso at the beginning of this season in place of the Renault F1 Team-bound Daniel Ricciardo but has yet to live up to expectations, noticeably struggling compared to team-mate Max Verstappen who has three podium finishes already including a first win for engine suppliers Honda since 2006 last time out in Austria.
Despite this, he is raring to go at one of his favourite tracks on the calendar, with the history of Silverstone also playing a part in why the track is so meaningful and important for the Frenchman.
“I’m excited to go racing on a track like Silverstone,” said Gasly. “It’s one of my favourites because you have so many high-speed corners, and especially with a Formula 1 car, you really feel the downforce and grip there.
“It’s a really nice and flowing track, and also its history in the sport makes it quite a meaningful place for me.”
After trailing home a lapped seventh as Verstappen went onto win in Austria two weeks ago, Gasly is under pressure to perform within the team, particularly as he was right behind the Dutchman on the opening lap.
The Frenchman says hard work is being done behind the scenes to try and turn around his season as he still seeks his first podium of his career ten races into his Red Bull career.
“Following Austria, we’re working and focusing on every detail and we will try to put all the pieces together to extract and deliver a better result this weekend,” said the Frenchman.
“I’m excited to get back out there and go racing.”
Gasly has fond memories of racing at Silverstone having taken a GP2 Series victory there on his way to the championship, and he cannot wait to get the weekend underway with Red Bull this year.
“I had a GP2 victory at Silverstone just after a road car accident with my family on the way to the track, so it’s a special weekend that I always remember and I’m really happy to return this year with Red Bull,” said Gasly.
“It’s usually a pretty cool atmosphere with all the British fans coming out to support. I remember last year was my first British Grand Prix in F1 and I was impressed with the amount of people attending over the weekend.”
