Pierre Gasly takes third place in the Brazilian GP. Alpine's number 10 managed to complete a great comeback starting from tenth position. Good strategy on a car that since Austin seems to have partially found the right path after a complicated season. Also reached sixth position in the constructors' championship, a result that could mean a lot.
Brazilian GP: Gasly recovers ten positions and reaches the podium
In addition to the furious comeback of Max Verstappen, who started seventeenth and finished first, another sporting feat took place on the Interlagos circuit. Pierre Gasly, in the morning's qualifying, had only classified in thirteenth position. "Only" because his Alpine, for a few races now, seems to have grown quite a bit in terms of performance. In fact, some new updates have arrived from Austin, which have allowed the two French cars to be constantly present in Q3 on Saturday, and to fight for points on Sunday. A growth that gives hope, with the aim of returning to being competitive in the battle in the midfield at least for 2025.
Back to the present, today we raced in the unpredictable context of Interlagos, which between revenge, falls and big surprises, has always contributed to writing memorable pages of this sport. Pierre Gasly was able to seize his opportunity in the storm, as did his teammate Esteban Ocon who finished the race in second place. An extraordinary result, which Gasly was able to defend especially in the final part of the race. In fact, after deciding not to return to the pits before the red flag, the Frenchman had to defend himself from the return of George Russell, who instead had led the first part of the race looking after Lando Norris behind him.
Gasly speaks as a team man: “two cars on the podium: we must be very proud”
Signs of rebirth at Alpine. A difficult season, peppered with terrible performances and a consequent revolution within the team, both in the garage and at the factory. Who knows, among other things, that this could not be the last podium signed by Renault, 2025 permitting, given that the French team will use Mercedes engines starting from 2026. Now, however, it is time to enjoy the points obtained, which will certainly allow the team's coffers to fill up. A great satisfaction, which reverberates in the words released to the microphones by Pierre Gasly. "It's amazing for the whole team. It was a very difficult season. We struggled to score points, but in these conditions everything is possible. Nobody believed it until the end: two cars on the podium, really fantastic".
Words of a team man, of a different tone, although not by much, compared to those of Ocon. The latter, in fact, will no longer race in the team next year Alpine, but will join Haas. For this reason Gasly is, and will be, the point of reference for the team, a responsibility that was felt in his statements. But this is not the only difference that was noted. Even on the relationship with the car, the two Alpine colleagues expressed themselves differently. In fact, on the one hand Ocon declared that the car was much more complicated to drive on dry surfaces, while Gasly did not share the same opinion. “Yesterday the pace wasn't bad even on dry. This morning we had a terrible qualifying due to a couple of accidents. I didn't manage to do a lap in Q2 so we started thirteenth. However, we have recovered ten positions".
Finally, Gasly, who finished third in Brazil in 2019 for Toro Rosso after a wheel-to-wheel battle with Hamilton, took no opportunity to celebrate the steps forward that the team has made during the break between Singapore and Austin. “I have a fantastic feeling right now, I am very proud of the team. We had to overcome many difficulties in a very tough season. It would have been easy to give up but we never did. Today we are here, with both machines and We all should be very proud".
