Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda had a mixed bag of results across the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka over the weekend, as Pierre Gasly came home in the point for Honda’s home grand
Gasly expressed he was happy with his race at the Japanese Grand Prix, after finishing in eight
“I’m very happy with today! It started really well this morning as I made it to Q3 and qualified ninth. We didn’t really expect to make it there after such short
The Frenchmen explained he felt the race was ‘intense’ even with the problem in his car in the middle section of the forty two lap race. Gasly was battling throughout the race Sergio Pèrez of SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team but it led to them having collision on the final lap of the race.
“I spent most of the race running in seventh and eighth, it was really intense as Renault and Racing Point were pushing very hard. We had a suspension issue in the middle of the race which made it quite tough, so I just gave it everything I had inside of the car to keep the position. “
He made sure he kept his position of eighth as he wanted it for the team and also Honda, whom’s home race it was during the weekend. He said it felt really special because of the fans and also scoring points for the home team.
“There were some intense battles and I really wanted to make it to the end for the team, Honda, and for the Japanese fans who came out to support us. I’m really pleased to score points for the team, especially in Japan…it feels really special! We can be pleased with the day and we can’t wait for the remaining races.”
However teammate Kvyat had a less exciting race, which lead to a twelfth place finish. He explained it was “OK” during the qualifying session and his car was “different” to Friday.
Kvyat Spoke and said: “This morning everything was OK until the last lap of my Qualifying. I don’t know why I was so slow on the last lap, the car felt a bit different to Friday – the conditions were quite different – but we all had to deal with it in the same way. “
After not making it as far as his teammate in the session the Russian started in fourteenth in his STR14 and expressed that it was a tough challenge at Suzuka, but said he felt the race went well even without points.
“Starting the race from fourteenth was not ideal and I knew it was going to be tricky. I feel like the race itself was strong, and even if we lost a couple of places at the start, from then on it was a solid recovery.“
“It’s a shame not to score points because the pace was really good. We will need to work in order to improve our Qualifying,” he added.
