P8 at Monza ‘the best we could have hoped for’ says Gasly, as Tsunoda’s point-less streak stretches to 10 races

Pierre Gasly finished in the points for the second time in the last three races after taking the chequered flag in P8 at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix – with the delighted AlphaTauri driver believing that that he and the team achieved their best possible result.

From P5 on the grid, Gasly made a good start, keeping position for first part of the race – although he was stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo for the first stint, before being overtaken by the charging Carlos Sainz.

Gasly then attempted to undercut Ricciardo, but a slow pit stop cost him time and he was once again behind the Australian before Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris came past. But when Ricciardo retired on Lap 47, Gasly was promoted to P8, which he believes was the best feasible outcome.

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“We hoped that there would be slightly more action between the top three teams but unfortunately all the top guys came back to the top,” said Gasly. “So, I think the top six was always going to be in that order.

“We know Lando is really fast on Sundays, and they have showed that a couple of times, so to finish right behind him is definitely the best we could have hoped for.”

Gasly was due to take part in the second of Thursday’s press conferences but missed out due to illness. And after Sunday’s race – where he admitted he felt much better than before – the Frenchman was looking forward to a well-earned rest.

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“[Sunday] was the best I’ve felt all week,” said Gasly. “And now I need about three days in a row, sleeping and resting and finishing all the antibiotics and all the treatment I’ve got to go through, and I’ll come in good shape to Singapore.”

On the other side of the AlphaTauri garage, Yuki Tsunoda started at the back of the grid – due to engine penalties and accumulating five reprimands over the season – and took the chequered flag in P14, although he felt he had driven as well as he could have.

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“The medium [tyre] pace was quite good [at the start of the race],” said Tsunoda, who has now not scored a point since the Spanish Grand Prix in May. “But hard tyres were pretty bad; it wasn’t like special pace, so I struggled with the hard tyre. There were not many mistakes from my side so we have to see how we can improve from here.”

With Gasly’s top-10 finish, AlphaTauri now head to Singapore one-point behind seventh-place Haas in the constructors’ championship.