F1 News
"It's a shame and I'm disappointed with myself"
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
After qualifying in ninth place ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver Pierre Gasly has said he's disappointed with himself for his lap in Q3, saying he made a mistake on the lap when it counted most.
Heading into this weekend after a frustrating race in his native France, Gasly showed promising pace in Free Practice and made it into Q3 with ease. However, in the final shoot-out, the 23-year-old couldn't string a perfect lap together, resulting in him setting the ninth time.
He'll start from P8, with Kevin Magnussen going from P5 to P10 because of a grid penalty, but a frustrating afternoon for the Frenchman.
“It’s a shame and I’m disappointed with myself not to put my lap together when it really mattered," he admitted.
"I didn’t do the job properly in Q3 and this is something I need to focus on. We had good pace and overall I think we made a step. We had a really good Free Practice and we managed to build everything up from there. There are a lot of positives to take from Q1 and Q2 where we were strong."
The lap he set in Q2 would've given him P5, but he couldn't match or improve on it, not dipping into the 1:03's.
"Everything was looking good for Q3, my first lap wasn’t ideal but on my second and final run, I made a mistake into Turn One and by Turn Three I had lost three or four tenths, otherwise I think we could have been P5."
Looking ahead to the race, with two Alfa Romeo cars in front of him, Gasly is confident he can make up some places.
"Now I need to move on and focus on tomorrow. We can recover, nothing is done, and we’ll try everything to come back in the race. I think we have a strong car and now we need to look at what we can do with the strategy.”
