Gasly happy with efforts by Honda: "Big step forward".

Helmut Marko is enthusiastic about the AT02 of AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly shares that opinion. The Frenchman has also stated that the Honda engine has made a considerable step forward. Nevertheless, according to Gasly it is still too early to make any predictions about how the 2021 race will turn out.

"I feel very comfortable in the car. We are in a much better position than last year around the same time," Gasly is quoted by Car, Motor und Sport after the conclusion of the three days of testing in Bahrain. Honda's new power unit felt good: "It's a big step forward. Furthermore we know the strengths of the car and where we can improve."

At L'Equipe the teammate of newcomer Yuki Tsunoda doesn't dare to say out loud yet that AlphaTauri will be back in the top-ten of the field. "The goal is to do even better than in 2020. It's too early to talk about results. It depends on the car. We also have to remain realistic. We will try to achieve the best possible results and above all to be constant."

Gasly had coronavirus

In early February it was revealed that Gasly was infected with the coronavirus. The 25-year-old driver has come out of it relatively well."We'll say I was lucky when I got COVID, because I didn't suffer from almost anything. I had four or five days of light coughing, that's all. So I isolated myself while continuing to train physically. It didn't affect my preparation," he explained.