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Gasly, a fabulous 6th place… but behind a Haas: “The fight will be tough until the end”
© Florent Gooden / DPPI
Pierre Gasly gave it his all on the Yas Marina circuit, but it still wasn't enough. The Frenchman scored a magnificent 6th place in qualifying – his second best result in the year after his 3rd place in Las Vegas – but was defeated by one of the two Haas, that of Nico Hulkenberg who confirmed the excellent form of the American team in Abu Dhabi, by taking 4th place.
A third row that nevertheless satisfies the Norman driver, who did not expect such a performance at the start of the weekend. Discreet on Friday during the first Free Practice, theAlpine #10 has regained performance thanks to new, more efficient settings. A good omen for the race on Sunday, where Pierre Gasly will have the difficult task of taking big points and preventing Haas from recovering 6th place in the Constructors' standings. AlpineThe Frenchman will have to play alone, since Jack Doohan qualified at the back of the pack for his first qualifying session, in 17th place...
Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 6th in qualifying in Abu Dhabi at the microphone of Canal+ : “Yesterday, I wasn’t confident for qualifying. I wasn’t comfortable in the car, we made a lot of changes. I had a lot of questions when I got in the car before qualifying, and finally, the changes we made were in the right direction. It’s really positive. We finished ahead of Russell who took pole last weekend [in Qatar], just behind Max [Verstappen] who is champion this year. It's pretty crazy to be here at the end of the season. It's really good work from the team. It wasn't an easy weekend so I'm really happy that we managed to find the right settings just before qualifying."
(On the duel with Haas) “Honestly, finishing the lap, I knew that was all we had. I was hoping it would be enough, unfortunately, [Haas] have been very fast all weekend. In FP2, you could see it already, they were fourth, and this morning, they were still very fast. I think we optimized our qualifying on our side. For the race, it will be a different story. There is a lot of degradation, graining, it will be a different exercise. We will prepare well, but the fight will be tough until the end.”
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Dorian Grangier
A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.
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Creek
08/12/2024 at 09:27 a.m.
And this despite Haas' relegation to 7th place.
Creek
08/12/2024 at 09:22 a.m.
You use the adjective "fabulous" to talk about Gasly's 6th place on the starting grid... fine, but then what adjective are you going to use to talk about Hulkenberg's 4th place on the same grid?
Thierry Pingret
07/12/2024 at 06:45 a.m.
the second Alpine is much lower than that of Gasly, contrary to what Oakes claims.
Yves-Henri RANDIER
07/12/2024 at 06:06 a.m.
The ailing engine "made in Viry" and the anvil "made in Enstone" are doing rather brilliantly. Will it be enough to finish ahead of Haas in the Constructors' standings while the second Alpine has very little chance of bringing in points, to be continued tomorrow between the Rouennais and Hulk!