Vegas encourages Pierre Gasly as he targets enviable qualifying record

10:28, 21 Nov

Updated: 11:15, 21 Nov

byBen Winship

Pierre Gasly is encouraged by a strong Thursday practice as he hopes to maintain his impressive qualifying record in Las Vegas.

After finishing both FP1 and FP2 in P12 and within one second of the lead car, Gasly has found encouragement from Thursday around a slippery Las Vegas Street Circuit.

Gasly has shown strong pace around the streets of Las Vegas since it returned to the calendar under its new layout in 2023. The Alpine driver qualified P3 for last year’s race and started the year before from P4.

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Speaking to F1TV after FP2 Gasly said: “Encouraging. I felt good in the car from the start.

“It's a difficult track, very risky, so it's quite important to kind of feel like the balance, to have the balance in a decent place and I think that was the case.

“So still a few things I want to work on but overall I'm comfortable to push, take risks, and I'm pretty happy.

“It was a bit of a messy session in FP2, but I think we've shot some decent pace all the way through before that.”

Alpine are running an updated pink livery in Las Vegas - Photo: RacePictures

He added: “We can always dream. We have got a good record here starting third last year, starting fourth the year before, so I don't want to ruin these stats too much. Hopefully tomorrow we can be in the top ten.”

Converting strong qualifying performances into points has proved more challenging for the driver who sits P18 in this year’s world title.

In 2023 Gasly slipped down to P11 while last year he retired with an engine failure after just 15 laps.

Jokes about the rain

Though rain never arrived in either of Thursday’s sessions, the possibility was a talking point through much of Wednesday’s media day.

Many drivers suggested that rain at an already tricky and slippery Las Vegas Street Circuit could prove extremely challenging, but Gasly appeared more welcoming to the weather as he joked on Wednesday.

“It gives more chance for the others to actually f**k up.

“I'm quite confident in both but I just feel some cars are kind of out of reach and the best way for us to finish ahead is for them to f**k it up.”

Gasly (left) started P3 in Las Vegas in 2024 - Photo: RacePictures

After sharing a brief laugh with reporters, Gasly apologised for his words in English and added: “That will be the type of race which will be extremely hard in the wet just from the nature of the track - very little low grip, very low drag - it will make it very tricky for us.

“I think that's what will bring obviously the most chances for you know any driver and these are conditions I quite like as well.

“Fortunately, I'm not too sure it will happen, but you never know.”

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