Eliminated at the gates of Q3, Gasly retains the progression ofAlpine : “I am very happy with the car”

It was 29 thousandths of a second before we got through to Q3 but unfortunately, Pierre Gasly failed to reach the top 10 in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Frenchman was unable to make it into the final qualifying session, beaten by just a few hundredths of a second and forced to settle for 11th place on the grid. However, despite this small setback, both theAlpine A525 seemed to have the pace to reach Q3, the Norman was not really annoyed by his performance.

🎙️ “I’m really happy with the car.”

Pierre Gasly will start 11th tomorrow, a great opportunity to pick up points 💪#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Vd66KMt9B5

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 5, 2025

On the contrary : on Canal+, Pierre Gasly said he was happy with his car's behavior. car and his best attempt in Q2. However, in an ultra-tight field where positions are decided by thousandths of a second, the slightest mistake can be very costly. For the Rouen driver, it was the second sector that proved fatal, despite a very satisfactory time in the first sector. Far from beating himself up, the number 10 driver pointed out the progress made by his car and his team since the last Grand Prix in China, and is now aiming for his first points of the season on Sunday, with weather conditions that could create opportunities.

Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 11th in qualifying for the Japanese GP : "Honestly, I'm very happy with the car, even though I'm definitely bummed not to make Q3, the lap was really good. The car was good in the corners, we're doing very well in the first sector where you need a lot of power. In the second sector, we know why we're losing [time], but that's where we're losing the most compared to the other cars in front of us."

"We were really competitive, that's why I'm a little disappointed, but at the same time, we really managed to take a step forward compared to China in terms of set-up to look for performance. From the inside, it was a really good lap. There are positives to take from it and for tomorrow, we know that the race is going to be long and there will probably be a lot of things happening with [the weather], so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do and hopefully I can look for points for the team."

"It's extremely close, we're six tenths off the best time in Q2. We're a tenth off the pace compared to 7th or 8th. There's a lot of positives to take from it and the team has done a good job since we arrived on Friday morning. I'm confident for tomorrow and with the conditions, there will be something to do."

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