Alpine hunting for other points
The Chinese Grand Prix which took place almost two weeks ago ended with a decidedly positive result for theAlpinewhich the French manufacturer had never managed to achieve throughout last season: that of finishing a race with both of its drivers in the points. After Gasly’s promising start, 10th in Australia, the transalpine repeated himself in Shanghai, coming close to the top-5, while his teammate Franco Colapinto crossed the finish line in tenth place.
Having proudly archived the first two tests of the championship, the challenge now arises for both drivers Japanese Grand Prix on the circuit of Suzukathe only one in the calendar and history of F1 that features an ‘eight’ layout. Waiting to get on track to reach the goal of a ‘hat trick’ in the points, Gasley commented on his approach to the Japanese weekend, not without hiding some small disappointments dating back to the last race which could nevertheless be encouraging: “It’s a great feeling to come back from a race with solid points in your pocket – he declared – we were in contention all weekend in China and, obviously, I left wanting to do even more, because I felt we left something on the table and that things could have been even better if the circumstances were in our favor. That said, we all learned a lot, which will help us for future races. It’s probably a good sign that we come away from a positive weekend with a bit of disappointment and I hope we can continue our form in Japan, one of my favorite places on the calendar. It is a special place for me, having raced there part of my career in 2017. I will visit Tokyo, as I always do when it is Grand Prix week, because it is one of my favorite cities in the world. I love all the culture there and of course the food is amazing. Suzuka will be an interesting challenge with this year’s cars. I don’t think we should set any expectations, because Suzuka brings many unique challenges with its fast and fluid nature. I’m up for the challenge. We can be competitive straight away and have another positive weekend, adding more points to our tally before the short break in April.”
A similar comment to that of his Argentine teammate Colapintovery excited ahead of his first race in Suzuka in F1: “Looking back, I’m happy to have left Shanghai with my first ranking point for the team, especially after some exciting on-track battles during the race. It was a shame, though, that we couldn’t achieve more, because the potential was therebut several things in the race didn’t go right. I’m really impressed with the improvements the team has made this start to the season, with the difference between Melbourne and Shanghai being evident. Last week I was in Enstone and spent some time with the team and in the simulator. It was fantastic to share this achievement with them, especially after so much hard work from everyone over the last few months. We have shown what we are capable of now and we aim to build on this ahead of Suzuka this weekend, which will be another new challenge. I’m really excited to race in Japan for the first time in my careerit’s an amazing country and I can’t wait to experience the weekend on this famous track. If the first races of the year are any indication, we will have to work very hard to fine-tune the car. But I can’t wait and am ready to build on the excellent result achieved last time out, before the short break next month.”
