Gasly proud that Hubert inspired Tsunoda

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Pierre Gasly paying tribute to Anthoine Hubert

Pierre Gasly says that it makes him proud to hear that Anthoine Hubert was an inspiration to new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

Following the death of Hubert in 2019, the Formula 2 award for the rookie of the year was renamed after him, and Tsunoda was the first to win it for his 2020 performances.

When accepting the award, the Japanese driver paid tribute to Hubert, and Gasly, who was close friends with the late Frenchman, says that this makes him proud.

“It is always nice to hear these things,” Gasly said as per GPFans.

“I knew Anthoine very well and I am also really glad and proud if he in some way inspired others.

“He was a really close friend of mine and it still sounds really strange to speak about him in that way and knowing he is not with us anymore.

“I am still not really used to that but obviously, nice words from Yuki.”

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Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

Gasly and Tsunoda will be team-mates at AlphaTauri in 2020, with the latter joining the grid in place of Daniil Kvyat.

Having watched much of the F2 season, in which Tsunoda won three races and finish P3 in the standings, Gasly was impressed by the rookie.

“He is a funny character,” he added.

“Obviously, I watch Formula 2 and Formula 3 every weekend. I like to see it because the racing is usually entertaining in these races.

I think he has done very well. He won a couple of races, I have seen him on pole. Good racing, I think on some occasions he lost big points that could have put him even higher in the championship, I am not sure of the reasons.

“It is out of your control sometimes but generally, he performed very well.”

Gasly was one of the best drivers in 2020, and such performances have led to the team building the car around him for the upcoming campaign.

“He is now an experienced driver and a successful driver as well,” team principal Frans Tost said.

“Any team always is oriented and concentrated to a successful driver.

“What does this mean? The team listens to the technical feedback of the driver and of course as a result of this, the new design of the car [is influenced].

“Let me say it this way – the designers and engineers, they keep the consideration of all technical feedback from such a good driver that they make next year’s car even better.

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