Alpine Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly admits that he had “a lucky escape” at the start of the Mexico City GP after emerging from the Yuki Tsunoda/Alex Albon incident intact.
One of Tsunoda’s tyres became detached from its rim and bounced off Gasly’s front wing.
Gasly feared that he had picked up a puncture from the Albon contact, but while the other drivers involved retired he was able to continue safely. He eventually bagged a valuable point for 10th place.
“I asked if I had a puncture because I couldn’t really see Alex,” he said when asked by formu1a.uno about the crash.
“I felt the touch on the rear on braking, and usually at high-speed like that, it can easily create a puncture.
“So we had a quite lucky escape. It was quite hectic as well, like when I saw the tyre, didn’t expect that to fly right past the car. I think it touched my front left, actually. So it was quite impressive.”
Gasly said he was pleased to have finished 10th from eighth on the grid, as simulations suggested that Sergio Perez would come through the field and demote him to 11th.
“I’m happy,” he said. “Ahead of the race we knew it was going to be P11 if Perez could make it back, 10th if he doesn’t. So I think we clearly did the best we could. At the start, I kind of hoped that maybe I could hang on with the Haas.
“On medium, I wasn’t too far, but I could see them pulling away like a tenth or two. But then as we switched too hard, they were just way too competitive. And looking at [Kevin] Magnussen, where he finished, they’re definitely very strong on Sundays.”
He added: “I think we did a very strong job [in qualifying], which basically set us up for a strong race. We tried to hang on with the Haas when potentially other cars behind maybe had slightly more pace initially than us, and then after tried to use the free air, no mistakes, and execute a strong strategy.
“So I think it was well-executed. But for sure, starting in that top 10 made our life a lot easier.“
The Mexican result was especially encouraging after Gasly tumbled out of the points in the US GP.
“On our side just happy we managed to learn from Austin,” he said. “Two Q3s in two weekends, P12 last week wasn’t a very strong race, and this weekend, we seem clearly seemed to have a bit better pace.
“So still some work to do, but at least I think the last point finished for us was in Zandvoort, so I’m happy for the team that we managed to get back in the top 10.”
