Pierre Gasly is satisfied but frustrated after the Chinese Grand Prix: “We had fifth place”

Finishing sixth in the Chinese Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly put in a solid performance behind the wheel of his Alpine. The Frenchman had long believed he could aim for an even better result before the safety car intervention and a more complicated end to the race. Enough to walk away with points… but also a few regrets.

Pierre Gasly was clearly pleased at the finish of the Chinese Grand Prix. The Frenchman leaves Shanghai with a solid points total (8 for his 6th-place finish on Sunday) and an overall successful weekend. “I'm very happy with all these points. We had a solid weekend starting with the sprint qualifying,” he told Canal Plus.

Starting seventh, Gasly made the most of his grid position. “I got off to a very good start and we managed to open up a gap right from the start.”

A controlled start to the race that seemed to put Alpine in a comfortable position for the rest of the race.

The Safety Car Changes the Game

However, the safety car's intervention reshuffled the deck. “The Safety Car put us in a tough spot,” he admits.

The middle of the race then turned into a real battle in the pack. “It was complicated in the middle of the race with all the cars around us.”

Gasly nevertheless managed to limit the damage and stay in the fight for the podium spots.

Among the standout battles of his race, the Frenchman notably crossed paths with Max Verstappen.

An intense, but expected, duel. “It was tough with Max, just as I expected it to be with him.”

In the heat of the moment in the cockpit, Gasly didn't hide his annoyance after a forceful pass by the Dutchman. With a little hindsight, he prefers to focus on the fact that he was able to battle with the Red Bull driver. “It's nice to see that we're catching up to Max.”

Regrets over fifth place

Despite this solid result, Gasly believes a little more was possible. “I would have preferred to take that fifth place. We had it.”

But in such a lively race, small details sometimes make all the difference. “I think we were missing a few small things.”

The Frenchman therefore leaves the race torn between satisfaction and frustration. “It's a shame not to be able to fight even harder, but it's a good start.”

Alpine also scores with Colapinto

There is also collective satisfaction for Alpine, as Franco Colapinto also scored points. “Congratulations to Colapinto on his first point,” said Pierre Gasly.

An encouraging result for the French team, which seems capable of consistently competing in the top 10 at the start of the season. Even if, deep down, fifth place is probably still on Pierre Gasly's mind.