Pierre Gasly believed he got the best result possible in Sunday’s São Paulo Grand Prix with seventh place, with the Frenchman enjoying the battles he had on track throughout the race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
The Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver had on-track battles with the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel in the early laps before battling with the two Alpine F1 Team drivers later on, but he was able to beat them all to seventh place and six more points.
Gasly says it is important AlphaTauri continue to build the points as they battle Alpine for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with the two teams continuing to be locked on the same number of points heading into the final three races of 2021.
“I’m really happy, it’s been a very intense race, but I think we can be pleased with today,” said Gasly. “There were some really nice battles, with Daniel and Seb, then at the end of the race with the Alpines.
“It was so fun to be racing with them, as we don’t often get to do that in F1. It was of course hard, but today we finished in the best position we could, behind the top three teams, and that’s the most important thing, as we continue our fight for fifth.”
“Unfortunately the collision with Stroll completely ruined my race” – Yuki Tsunoda
Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda endured a frustrating day that saw him end fifteenth after early contact with Lance Stroll that resulted in a broken front wing and a ten-second time penalty.
Tsunoda attacked the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver heading into turn one, only for the two to collided at the apex of the turn. The Japanese driver suffered damage to his front wing and a loss of downforce that required a pit stop for repairs, while the stewards blamed him for the incident and handed him a ten-second penalty.
“I’m pretty frustrated after today,” said Tsunoda. “I think we made a good choice with the tyres but unfortunately the collision with Stroll completely ruined my race.
“It was a risky move, but he just wasn’t looking in his mirrors and we came together. It’s a real shame I received the penalty, as I also struggled with damage for the rest of the race, but these things happen and we’ll work to come back stronger next time out.”
