Gasly not yet comfortable in Abu Dhabi: “It’s going to be extremely tight”

Ninth in a truncated Free Practice 2 session, Pierre Gasly confided that he had not yet found the right settings on the A523 on the Yas Marina route. The Norman expects strong competition for passage to Q3 on Saturday.

Published on 24/11/2023 à 16:47

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Gasly not yet comfortable in Abu Dhabi: “It’s going to be extremely tight”

Pierre Gasly is still far from having exploited the potential of the A523 in Abu Dhabi © Florent Gooden / DPPI

At the end of the first two test sessions in Abu Dhabi, it was difficult to draw any relevant lessons. Free Practice 1 was marked by rookies, with the presence of ten new drivers – more or less young – at the start of the session, while Free Practice 2 was disrupted by two red flags, leaving the drivers free to ride on the track for only about fifteen minutes. A feeling of uncertainty shared Pierre Gasly.

The pilot Alpine came out mixed from this Friday day. Ninth in Free Practice 1 and 2, the Frenchman was not fully satisfied with his settings. “We are following the tests we want to do, but it hasn't been very easy in the car. We have quite a bit of understeer, he confided to the microphone of Canal +. It was a bit during FP2, but I'm not yet very comfortable with the behavior of the car, I would like a little more front end. We will try to work well this evening, it will be extremely tight tomorrow. »

💬 “It’s going to be extremely tight tomorrow.”

P9 at the end of FP2, Pierre Gasly looks ahead to the rest of the weekend 🏎️#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/PJoMj9bpjk

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) November 24, 2023

For Gasly, even the passage to Q2 will be difficult

According to the Habs, the passage to Q3 – or even Q2 – will not be an easy task, with competition already very close during the last meetings." The Alfa Romeo were fast today, the Alpha Tauri are not bad... tomorrow, it will be very close: we will find the same as usual [Saturday], Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari et McLaren. Behind, we will also have the Aston Martin. Even for Q1, we saw recently that it is never simple. We will try to finish the season in the best possible way.”, hopes Pierre Gasly.

Alpine in any case hopes to find rhythm and regularity between his two drivers in Abu Dhabi. In Las Vegas last week, only Pierre Gasly was able to reach Q3, whileEsteban Ocon made up for it the next day with a 4th place finish. If the A arrow has nothing left to play, the main thing will be to finish on a good note to alleviate the bitter taste of a disappointing season.

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