"I'm extremely happy": Pierre Gasly proves his potential in Japan

Written by Axelle Vallière
"I'm extremely happy": Pierre Gasly proves his potential in Japan
Credit: Overtake Agency

After a standout performance in qualifying, Pierre Gasly secured a promising seventh spot on the grid. While realistic about the competition, he remains optimistic about his team's progress. 

So perhaps China wasn't an exception after all. The solid work done by Alpine made a splash today. Pierre Gasly qualified in seventh place—the same result as in Shanghai—which he then turned into a sixth-place finish in the race. 

As he climbed out of his car, the driver from Normandy wore a broad smile. “I'm extremely happy because yesterday was tough. We didn't expect to have difficulties here in the fast corners. We focused on improving session after session, and this morning it was much better,” he told Canal+. 

Thanks to great teamwork and a few “tweaks for qualifying,” he believes he benefited from “the best version of the car this weekend.” “We had much less understeer, the car turned better, and we managed to put in a good lap to secure P7,” he explained. 

Allowing himself to aim high

Although delighted with this promising result, the French driver prefers to stay grounded. “I'm very happy, but we're not going to get carried away either. I think the Ferraris clearly showed they're a step above.”

So while he believes the McLarens are too tough to challenge right now, he hopes to eventually catch up to the top teams. “In China we saw there was a 3-tenths gap to the McLarens; here there's a 1.5-tenths gap to Hamilton, so we have to try to close it little by little.”

He's not there yet. This weekend, the battle will be with “the Red Bulls and the Audi, which seems to be running well.” Indeed, Pierre Gasly managed to finish ahead of his compatriot, Isack Hadjar, who will start alongside him on the fourth row. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, is only 11th on the grid. 

While Franco Colapinto remains in the back of the pack with a 15th-place qualifying result, Alpine has nonetheless confirmed its ability to fine-tune its car over the course of each weekend since the start of the season.