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Pierre Gasly says that he never expected to finish inside the top five at the Bahrain Grand Prix, after claiming P4. The young Frenchman displayed a dazzling performance for Toro Rosso, who competed in just his seventh Grand Prix.
Gasly started the race from fifth on the grid after another superb performance in qualifying on Saturday. At the start of the race, he managed to overtake Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull down at Turn 1, and held a consistent pace all through the race.
"It's just amazing. I'm still struggling to understand what's happened today," he told Channel 4. "We never expected to finish P4 in our second weekend with Honda, so I'm just super happy for the team, for Honda. Today the car was just fantastic, it is unbelievable."
"We started P5, yesterday was my best qualifying in Formula 1. To line up next to [Valtteri] Bottas and Daniel [Ricciardo] was an amazing feeling. We knew that the car was fast but we didn't expect that we would finish inside the top five."
The result was Honda's best ever finish since returning as an engine supplier in 2015. Gasly now moves into eighth place in the driver's standings after picking up 12 points for himself and Toro Rosso.
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (6)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
So great race for Honda both in F1 and Super GT. Days like these make me a very happy Honda freak.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Also, I find it very interesting that both Mercedes powered teams are at the bottom. I can understand if one of them were lower down, but both simultaneously? Is there a correlation, or just random chance?
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Well done to Gasly, superb drive. Honda engine seems to be coming together. It looked on par with Renault this weekend. As for Mercedes cars in the back? That's down to Williams astonishing incompetence.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yeah, I think so to, but I do think there could be some explanations.
A: As you say, FI and Williams doesnt have "it" this year
B: Mercedes arent as helpful to their concubines as e.g Ferrari to Sauber and Haas
C: The power difference between the Merc' units and the others have gone down significantly
Personally, I think there could be some truth to all of it. The fact that Honda and Renault powered teams could overtake Mercedes customers with ease point towards a decreased importance of which engine you are equipped with, which is nice.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Not sure yet. Some people lucked into a good result and that means some people had bad luck. Still think that Mercedes has the fastest power unit but not sure on the chassis side. Mercedes number 2 driver needs to be better.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Setting double RedBull, and Kimi's retirement aside, there is more to Gasly's finish than mere luck.