“It’s the best car I’ve ever had in my career”: Pierre Gasly on cloud nine after the Japanese Grand Prix

Under pressure from Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly drove a steady race that allowed him to hold onto 7th place and score points for the third consecutive time. 

“At the end, the gap was too small to get the whole car in!” the Frenchman told Canal+ on the sidelines of the Japanese Grand Prix. 

Starting in 7th place, Pierre Gasly's goal was to maintain his position. Ahead of qualifying, he realistically assessed that it was still too early to aim for the top four. Aware of his potential nonetheless, he was determined not to let the rest of the field pass him. 

Very quickly, the Alpine driver had to contend with Max Verstappen, who was hot on his heels after a flawless start. 

“It was a long race with a lot of pressure. At the start, I was pretty comfortable on the medium tires, but since the beginning of the year there have been a lot of safety cars, so I knew this was going to happen. Max Verstappen put a lot of pressure on me throughout the race, so I really had to focus to be as fast as possible.” 

Indeed, there was no room for error if he hoped to keep the Dutch powerhouse behind him. 

“I tried to pass him once,” says Max Verstappen. “I got him at the last chicane, but then, on the straight, he had more battery power, so it was pointless to try to pass there. I had to hope he'd make a mistake, that he'd mismanage his battery, but he did everything right, so I just tried to stay as close to him as possible. There was no way to pass.”

An idyllic start 

By scoring points in the first three Grand Prix of the season, Pierre Gasly has had the best start to a season of his career. 

“For now, it's the best car I've had in my career, maybe along with the 2021 Alfa Tauri,” he says. An encouraging observation that reflects the progress made by the Alpine team during the offseason.

 “We have a solid foundation to build on; I'm pleased to see that the car seems to be performing well in the first few race weekends. We're finding performance gains across the board and know where our limitations lie and what we need to work on.”

Optimistic, his focus is already on what's next. “We have a month ahead of us; we're working on things for Miami.” The team intends to capitalize on this momentum to continue making progress.

“Overall, it bodes well; I'm satisfied with this weekend. We've made good progress. We've opened up a nice gap over Liam Lawson and are 7 seconds behind the Ferraris, so I hope we'll be able to catch up to the front runners.” A measured ambition, yet one that reveals the positive mindset driving the Alpine team.