The passage of time often changes the way we observe the most tense moments of a season. This seems to have happened with Pierre Gasly, who after the anger he expressed following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix decided to close that chapter and focus on the goal he still has with Alpine.
During the last weekend in Baku, the Frenchman was involved in the accident caused by Franco Colapinto, which left both cars from the French team out of competition and also affected Lando Norris's McLaren. The situation generated frustration within the team, which lost an important opportunity to score points in the Constructors' Championship battle.
Days later, during the press conference before the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will take place in Malaysia, Gasly assured that the situation is now behind him. "Everything is fine. In the heat of the moment, you're full of adrenaline, a lot of emotion, frustration, disappointment, the race is over. And yes, it was a hard blow for us as a team, but the only way to move forward is to simply come together and strengthen ourselves as a team", he explained.
"He came to apologize. It was an unfortunate mistake because once you cross that line and brake too late, you're out of control, and it was just unfortunate that I was the car he ended up crashing into. It's in the past. A couple of days have passed, and now we're in Malaysia looking forward", added the French driver.
For Alpine, the consequence of the retirement was significant. The team hoped to close the gap with Racing Bulls, but now faces the next race with a 15-point deficit to the Faenza team. Therefore, Gasly emphasized the need to work together with his teammate to try to achieve that goal. "We all need each other to finish in fifth place this year, and we will need each other next year. And we have to look forward", he stated.
With few races ahead, Gasly understands that the team still has tools to fight. "We know what we have to do, and I think the goal is very clear: to focus on the Constructors' Championship, working as a team as best we can. And yes, there aren't many races left, but we're still in the fight for fifth place. I believe we have a good car, we have strong pace right now, and we just have to make the most of the opportunities that arise in the coming weeks", he affirmed.
When will Colapinto race again
After his unfortunate participation in Azerbaijan, the Argentine will seek to recover next weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Due to the current geopolitical tension in the Middle East, Formula 1 decided that instead of taking place at the Sakhir circuit, the action will move to the Sepang circuit, Malaysia, although the competition will retain its original name due to the commercial agreements the category has with the Bahraini government. The activity will start on Friday, October 2 with the first free practices and will conclude on Sunday, October 4 with the main race.
Bahrain Grand Prix Schedule
Friday, October 2
