F1 | Gasly: ​​”In the last 15 laps of the race I was screaming with pain”

Also in Jeddah the AlphaTauri experienced a weekend with two faces. If in Bahrain, in fact, the Faenza team managed to score points with only Yuki Tsunoda due to a technical problem accused on Pierre Gasly’s car, in Saudi Arabia it was the Japanese’s turn to be targeted by the lack of reliability.

Tsunoda was unable to take part in qualifying due to a hydraulic system failure, and on Sunday he was unable to even line up on the grid due to a transmission problem that immediately put him out of action.

The AlphaTauri was thus forced to field only Gasly on the track, but the Frenchman experienced a hellish final phase of the race.

“The last 15 laps were the most painful of my career. I don’t know what happened to my gut, but I felt like I was dying in the car. I was screaming in pain. At every braking and in every left corner I had the feeling of being stabbed. It wasn’t nice at all ”.

“The pain was localized mainly on the right side. Now I need to undergo a medical examination. In the end I just counted the laps that were missing at the end of the race and I’m happy to be able to cross the finish line in eighth position ”.

For Gasly, who at the end of the race was helped by the team mechanics to get out of the cockpit of his car, the only consolation was that he managed to score the first points of the season. The winner of the Monza 2020 GP, however, complained about the stop made just as the safety car entered the track.

“I’m really happy with the result, but the pitstop was really unlucky. I entered the pits and when I got out the safety car entered the track and I collapsed to fourteenth place. Then I managed to recover up to eighth position ”.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, leaves his garage

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

After the first two races at AlphaTauri, reliability is already emergency. The images of Gasly’s car engulfed in flames in the final phase of the Bahrain GP are still well impressed in the minds of all the team staff.

Pierre admitted he was worried about the current situation, but reiterated his confidence in the Italian team and said he was certain that both cars will soon be able to complete a GP.

“The first two weekends of the season were very complicated from a reliability point of view. The tests had gone well and we were really confident. In Bahrain I was unable to score points, while in Jeddah it was Yuki who was unable to take part in either qualifying or the race. It is a situation that hurts as a team, but I am confident that we will be able to find solutions ”.