Pierre Gasly says his ultimate lap in Q3 was a particular one as he secured third place on the grid for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Alpine scored a shock double-podium on the final race in Brazil, with Gasly third behind teammate Esteban Ocon in second. Whereas that consequence got here in moist situations, Friday’s qualifying in Las Vegas was in dry and chilly temperatures, and Gasly excelled along with his ultimate lap placing him within the prime three, behind solely George Russell and Carlos Sainz.
“It’s completely unbelievable as a crew,” Gasly stated. “We began Bahrain on the final row with each automobiles, and hastily, the previous few weeks have been fairly a change. I’m actually joyful and happy with the work the crew has been doing in a season the place all the pieces appeared unattainable, simply to nonetheless stick collectively and put some extra efficiency in that automobile.
“Going into qualifying at this time, I need to admit we by no means thought we’ll be ready to truly get in that prime three, however I managed to have a really particular lap on the proper time on that final set in Q3 and it’s a really good shock.”
Gasly says Alpine had a transparent strategy to the Las Vegas Strip Circuit that has paid off up to now, and he felt assured in his automobile’s dealing with from the beginning of the primary follow session.
“We went with a reasonably aggressive package deal when it comes to downforce, so we’re operating little or no downforce round this monitor,” he defined. “We attempt to maximize the straight strains; we clearly make our lives barely more durable within the corners.
“I feel it’s a difficult monitor. It’s very chilly situations. It’s fairly an outlier within the season. However I had a pleasant feeling within the automobile since P1. P2 went effectively. P3 went effectively. After which in that Q3, we managed to make it work with just one set of recent tires as effectively.
“So there was undoubtedly some good tempo and for now, I’m more than happy. Clearly, it’s solely qualifying, however I feel it’s most likely the primary time I qualify within the prime three. It feels prefer it was a particular one.”
Gasly has each Purple Bulls, each McLarens and Charles Leclerc behind him on the grid, and says he’s not overly targeted on holding them at bay as he as a substitute has is eyes on defending Alpine’s sixth place within the constructors’ standings.
“That’s probably not what I’m interested by. I feel we all know the place the goal is for us,” he stated. “We’re preventing Haas and [RB] within the constructors’. Clearly, no matter occurred in that quali is superb. It feels good to be in entrance of Max and McLaren and these guys, however on the finish of the day, it’s not our combat.
“So we’ll give our greatest shot tomorrow. It’s a difficult one round right here with the graining, so we’ll be certain that we do our homework tonight to maximise the possibilities tomorrow. However for positive, from P3, we enhance our probabilities to get some good factors.”
