For most Red Bull drivers, it was a difficult day at Imola. Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda had technical problems and Sergio Perez was hit by a car. Pierre Gasly on the other hand had an excellent day. So good in fact, that he appeared on Lewis Hamilton's radar.
"Alphatauri, I think they’ve done an amazing job, they’re looking incredibly fast. It’s really great that Pierre has a good car underneath him and I’m excited to see him up there", the world champion hinted after the second free practice session to Formula1.com.
Gasly not expecting a fight with Mercedes
Gasly ended the day with a third time and in the morning he was already on the pace with a fifth place. Especially the small difference with the Mercedes drivers was impressive. In his fast lap on the soft tyre, he managed to stay within one-tenth of Hamilton. Reason enough for Gasly to call it 'one of our best Fridays ever.' Yet he remains realistic for Sunday.
"Mercedes have a lot faster car than we have. We know they have margin… but I think we’re just focusing on ourselves and trying to understand how to improve our car, improve our pace compared to our main rivals, which I guess is Ferrari, McLaren and probably Alpine as well", Gasly said.