Gasly has his eyes set on ‘Christmas gift’ for AlphaTauri

Pierre Gasly wants to give his AlphaTauri team the perfect Christmas present, that being P5 in the Constructors’ Championship.

The Frenchman has been on fine form this season, pumping in another headline-grabbing display at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with a P4 finish in the Mexican Grand Prix, holding off both of the Ferraris.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz admitted that Gasly had proven to be a bad surprise for them, handing the Scuderia a result which left them with the feeling of underachievement, while AlphaTauri are very much at the other end of that scale, challenging manufacturer outfit Alpine in the Constructors’ standings.

With four rounds to go Alpine and AlphaTauri are now tied on 106 points, so for Gasly his Christmas shopping for the team is already clear, he wants to ensure that he can give them that P5 once the chequered flag falls on the 2021 campaign.

a super drive and a bunch of points added to our tally 🤙 @pierregasly wraps up his #mexicogp weekend 👊 pic.twitter.com/1BSoEr5QZa

— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) November 8, 2021

“I’m extremely happy, P4 is such a great result and we couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” he said after the race.

“Everything was under control with Charles behind, I was able to pull away nicely and manage the entire race well from fourth position.

“This weekend the car has really been there, we delivered yesterday in Quali and then again in the race today, and finishing ahead of Ferrari always feels good as well.

“We’re equal on points with Alpine now, it’s my personal plan to deliver fifth in the Championship to Franz [Tost, team principal] and the whole team – a nice and well deserved Christmas gift – so we’ll keep pushing for that.

“The way we’re currently working as a team I think we’ll be able to find our chances in the next few races.”

Yuki Tsunoda was robbed of a chance to contend for points after contact into the first turn, forcing AlphaTauri to retire his car, so the Japanese racer could not help but feel that it was an opportunity lost.

“It’s such a shame, the car has been good here and, even if it wasn’t going to be easy, I think there could still have been an opportunity to score points today,” he said.

“It’s just unfortunate, the car next to me got sandwiched and then I was hit, these things happen in racing though.

“Overall, this race week has been really good, as the performance of the car has been strong, so it’s so disappointing not to be finishing the race.”

PlanetF1 Verdict

Pierre Gasly the star of the show in Mexico

Pierre Gasly was back to his best at the Mexican GP securing important points for AlphaTauri.