Finishing fifth at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, Pierre Gasly earned 10 valuable points, restoring the French team to sixth place in the World Constructors’ Championship.
Who wants to win millions? At Alpine, Pierre Gasly raised his gloved hand high, signaling to his team that the sixth place in the World Constructors’ Championship should not slip away from the blue and pink. By resisting the onslaught of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari for about fifteen laps at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, the Alpine driver offered his team an unexpected 10 points, allowing them to overtake Haas in the constructors’ standings (59 points against 54), now leaving Racing Bulls (46 points) behind.
A gain of one place that weighs nearly 9 million euros in financial bonuses at the end of the season. “The job is not finished, we will have to keep the Haas behind us in Abu Dhabi next weekend,” the Normandy native tempered after the race. “We should have scored big points in Las Vegas last week with my third place on the grid. It went wrong with an engine failure. Here (in Qatar), the race was incredible. I’m very happy, the car was working super well. It was fast and I made sure to save the tires, but also the fuel at the end of the race. I had to think about a lot of things at the same time, with a lot of pressure from Carlos Sainz behind. With him, it was very, very hot, I had to defend hard.” Gasly’s reward at the finish line was crossing it with his Alpine among the Red Bulls, McLarens, Mercedes, and Ferraris. A pink panther among the big cats.
Pierre Gasly: “Really an incredible race”
A battle against the Haas in the last GP
What remains is to confirm, next Sunday in Abu Dhabi, the potential of the A524 with the number 10 painted on the hood. A battle against the Haas one on two, because Pierre Gasly is the only one to have at his disposal a single-seater benefiting from the latest evolutions.
And especially because this Sunday, a rumor swelled in the Losail paddock, suggesting that Esteban Ocon will be replaced by Australian Jack Doohan at the wheel of the A524 for the last GP of the season. A rumor that over the hours has become more and more consistent, and is now considered as information.
End of the Alpine adventure for Esteban Ocon, replaced by Jack Doohan in Abu Dhabi
