Gasly delighted with his “best Friday of the season” in Qatar

For the umpteenth time this season, Pierre Gasly impressed at the wheel of his modest but efficient Alpha Tauri. The Norman driver set the second fastest time twice, in as many free practice sessions, for the very first day of running of the F1 in Qatar. An honorable performance for the small team from Faenza (Italy), still in the fight for fifth place in the constructors' championship against Alpine.

“It was a very good Friday, the best of the season so far I would say, assures Pierre Gasly at the end of EL2. Inside the car it doesn't look as easy, but the lap times are very good. I think in terms of balance we can do even better for tomorrow, so we will try to work on that tonight. Our goal is of course to be as high as possible on the grid, but we are obviously realistic. We are very competitive at the moment, so we hope to be there, with McLaren et Ferrari again, in qualifying. »

On the paddock side, the sound is more or less similar. Jonathan Eddols, the chief race engineer, looked back on this day of discovery which was intense to say the least:

“Coming to a new circuit always means there is a lot to cover on Friday. So, we had a busy execution plan for both cars, with the main objective of understanding the circuit and therefore, the tuning requirements, tires and aerodynamic setup. The process is all the more difficult as FP1 takes place at the hottest time of the day and FP2 in the early evening, with a difference of around 15°C between the track temperatures of the two sessions.

“That said, we were able to cover our plans for the race and all the points we wanted to test, and so far we are competitive, especially on the short relays, which have been very good for both drivers. The longer stints were a little tougher on the tires, so there's definitely work to do for tomorrow, but we captured a lot of good data for tonight's analysis. I am confident that we can further improve the car tonight and show a good performance in qualifying tomorrow.”

In the manufacturers' championship, AlphaTauri and Alpine are tied, with 112 points each. With three races still to run, the little Italian sister of Red Bull is on track to achieve the best result in its history. With two drivers in the points at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix, the task could prove even easier.