Gasly almost missed out on the Belgian GP: 'It came down to ninety seconds'

Pierre Gasly had secured a handsome eighth on the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix, but the AlphaTauri driver was the big absentee as the drivers lined up for the start. At the last minute he suffered a technical problem that forced him to start from the pits. He then fought his way back up to P9, but he almost didn't start at all.

The AlphaTauri driver had to start from the pit lane at the last minute because he could not get his car started due to an electronic problem. Despite this, the French driver made a good recovery and was delighted to finish ninth in the 100th Grand Prix of his Formula One career.

However, Gasly was very close to losing the entire party. "Two minutes before the race start, I thought I was never going to participate in this race," he admitted in conversation with Formula1.com. "Somehow the car just came alive again, like one minute thirty before the race start."

A stressful start for Gasly, but he kept his head up and focused on the catch-up race ahead. "We didn't expect to make such a comeback. I just tried to stay composed and execute the best race I could," concluded the AlphaTauri driver, who praised his team for making the right strategic decisions. Gasly used undercuts to gain a number of places and, surprisingly, his fourth top-ten finish of the season.