Home F1 Gasly tried things to keep Sainz at bay; Ocon reacts to early...

Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, F1 — Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A524. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 23, Qatar Grand Prix, Saturday 30th November 2024. Doha, Qatar.

Gasly tried things to keep Sainz at bay; Ocon reacts to early end

04/12/2024

Pierre Gasly had to try different things to defend himself in F1 Qatar GP, as Esteban Ocon shares his side where he wanted to race the final time in Abu Dhabi.

Alpine’s Gasly just missed out on a Top 10 in F1 Qatar GP qualifying. But the Frenchman was right in the mix for points during the grand prix. At first he was chasing Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and he cleared him by going long in his stint amid safety car disruptions.

Those stoppages helped Gasly to gain places and slot himself behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. The spin for the Mexican meant the Frenchman was fifth and ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The Alpine driver was also aided by a penalty to McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Gasly managed to hold off Sainz in the final stint for about 16-17 laps, while lifting and coasting. There were moments where he almost lost it, but somehow managed to hang on, with the Spaniard also suffering from damage after a puncture he suffered in the middle of the race.

The fifth place for Gasly helped Alpine to jump back to sixth in the standings. The safety car screwed Magnussen, who was looking good in terms of pace. He scored points but it was not enough against the French outfit, who are now five points ahead of Haas with one race remaining.

The American outfit was not helped by the fact that Nico Hulkenberg retired from the grand prix. He already had a moment on Lap 1 and then spun off on his own on a re-start. Alpine seems to be in a safe spot considering Visa Cash App RB now sits 13 points adrift of them.

Gasly: “Doesn’t really go together, I mean fighting and racing a Ferrari while doing lift and coast when he is right on my gearbox. Anyway, I tried to manage it the best way I could. At the end, I really wanted to get that P5, I know how important are the points in the championship and I must say, I enjoyed that race so much. It was a lot of laps during the race, just flat out at the limit of the grip of the car and trying to get everything out of it, being on top of the graining and degradation on the tyres, just a great challenge. I felt good in the car. I had a bit of battle with Kev at the start, I was on his gearbox and I could feel that I was a bit faster, as soon as he came in, we were released with amazing pace. It was a very strong race, one of the best days, it is there obviously after Brazil. I am just proud of the guys how much performance that they managed to bring throughout the whole year.

“Every lap I was going faster and faster, that medium tyres was just amazing on my car. I could see as soon as Kev came in, I was opening four tenths per lap on Fernando, I was three tenths faster than Kev on the new hard, I didn’t wanted to box. I knew if there was any safety car, I’ll benefit from it. And at that stage of the race, I was just overcutting and gaining time on them. I had no reason to box and we put ourselves in a position that if there is a safety car, we can benefit and it happened, obviously, it worked out well for our race, but then the last 16-17 laps with Carlos behind wasn’t easy. But we managed to do it. I think I can spot like three moments where he had a good run to pass me and I had to make a decision to either take the inside line or the outside line.

“There are different way of going through there and I think I first went on the inside, then I stayed on the outside, he was bit surprised and the last one I stayed inside. I was pretty happy with my defence, I managed to place the car quite well, so he couldn’t get the move but it was intense because he was faster and I think he had one mistake in the last corner, that was one lap he was quite close, and he lost a second, so I managed to do more lift off at that moment to build a bit of margin but then he got right back behind me. It was intense but as I said earlier, this year I didn’t have many days where I was fighting for P5 and I had to put my eggs in one, I really enjoy this type of racing.”

Hulkenberg: “Yeah, probably, maybe. It just didn’t work out, not a clean race, not a clean quali which was obviously the root cause but then in the race, also not clean. We made mistakes, I made mistakes and that’s how quickly you get pay back. Turn 1 – it was messy. There was contact, I honestly can’t remember. It was all happening very quickly – I don’t know if I got hit first or touched someone. Then a long stint in traffic, then kind of unlucky with the Safety Car because the others got a free stop. At the restart, [I] just lost it in a big way in a high-speed corner very aggressively and suddenly, so not our day for sure. One of those to forget and we just have to wipe it off.”

Magnussen: “We had a good beginning to the race and everything was going well – just wish that Safety Car hadn’t come out. That really screwed us but anyway, there’s still a race to go and we’ll go in there guns blazing. We deserve better but luck unfortunately hasn’t been on our side recently. We’ve just got to do what we can. As I said, still a round to go – five points’ deficit is not the easiest of tasks, but still all to play for.”

Amid the fight for sixth, Alpine will be without Ocon, who decided to end his time with the team after the DNF in F1 Qatar GP. The Frenchman was given the chance to test for Haas in Abu Dhabi, but on the condition that he will vacate his seat for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi GP.

The discussions took place between Flavio Briatore and Toto Wolff in Qatar. Eventually, it was sorted and Jack Doohan will get an early F1 gig ahead of his 2025 start. Ocon, meanwhile, penned a lengthy message for Alpine and the team, noting that he didn’t wished that things ended like that.

He also revealed a special helmet that he was to wear during the finale in Abu Dhabi GP. Since the announcement, Haas confirmed Ocon for the Tuesday test in Abu Dhabi alongside Ryo Hirakawa, who will switch from McLaren in FP1 to the American outfit to start the Haas-Toyota association.

Ocon: “I would like to first and foremost thank the mechanics and engineers across all functions at the track, Enstone, and Viry-Châtillon who have raced alongside me these last five seasons. We have shared so much together, and I am proud to call many of you my friends. I leave Alpine/Renault with great memories and the pride of having been the driver who brought the team’s best results since its return to the sport, climbing the top two steps of the podium in Bahrain, Hungary, and Brazil. It was also an honour to play a part in finishing P4 in the Constructors’ Championship in 2022. I know how much all of those moments meant for everybody and feeling that sense of achievement and joy alongside the team is what I am taking away with me.

“It has not been an easy year on track for the team and the second part of the season has been especially difficult. For various reasons. I do not regret a single thing knowing I gave it 100% every single session. Like I always have. To the hundreds of hard-working men and women at Enstone and Viry, I apologise that I will not be able come see you in person and have a proper farewell. As you know, the plan was always to race one last time this weekend and personally say goodbye to you all next week. I was looking forward to both of those things. This is not how I wanted things to end. That said, the world of F1 is small and I am sure I will see many of you again soon. I would also like to wish nothing but great things to my friend Jack as he takes this next big step in his career at this week’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.”