Gasly praises Alpine for "an aggressive, low downforce set-up"
Having finished in the points at Spa-Francorchamps, Alpine racer Pierre Gasly has praised the French outfit for "an aggressive, low downforce set-up" at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Belgian Grand Prix saw Pierre Gasly climb up through the order to make it to the top 10. Although he looked to struggle for race pace on the dry surface, he managed to keep the chasing cars at bay thanks to his aggressive, low-downforce setup.
In the end, he held onto that last point by just 0.4s while his team-mate Franco Colapinto ended up in a distant 19th place.
“It was a very intense race and I am pleased that we were able to make the right calls to come away with one point, which we can be satisfied with today.
"We made some very good decisions like opting for an aggressive, low downforce set-up, which allowed us to attack and defend on the straights and also pitting at the right time for dry tyres as the track dried up early on. So, I am very happy with that and that hard work has paid off today.
"It is only a point but, after a race like that, defending from a number of cars for so long, we can be pleased. Every year, Spa is a special weekend for me for many reasons so it was nice to have my family here alongside Anthoine's mum too.
"We take a point away and we go into Hungary next week ready to go again for the final one before the summer break," concluded the Frenchman.
His team-mate Franco Colapinto stated: “It was a tough and long race for us. With the conditions, there was always likely to be some opportunity even starting from fifteenth after some cars started from the Pit Lane.
"It was very wet to begin and the conditions probably came to us as it dried as we opted for a low downforce wing to prioritise straight line speed.
"The start was good, we caught up the cars in front, before pitting for dry tyres. We seemed to struggle for pace on the Medium in traffic. We then pitted again to cover Carlos [Sainz] but, in the end, we could not make any progress towards him. Well done to Pierre for finishing in tenth and scoring a point for the team.
"On our side, it was a tricky weekend and I know we will continue to work hard in the week to prepare for the next race in Hungary.”
