Gasly hails ‘fantastic’ P4 in Mexico as AlphaTauri draw level with Alpine in constructors’

A supreme Mexico City Grand Prix weekend from Pierre Gasly saw the Frenchman enjoy an untroubled run to fourth place on race day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – a result that allowed Gasly’s AlphaTauri team to draw level on points with fifth-placed rivals Alpine in the constructors’ standings.

Arriving in Mexico having scored just eight points in the previous four races, Gasly did a fine job in qualifying to take fifth on the grid on Saturday – while with his AlphaTauri AT02’s Honda engine working beautifully at the high-altitude track, Gasly then inherited P4 after a spin for polesitter Valtteri Bottas at the race start, with Gasly holding off the Ferraris to finish in that position at the chequered flag.

“I’m extremely happy, yes,” said Gasly. “It’s been a fantastic weekend – fifth in quali and fourth in the race. Everything was under control with Charles [Leclerc] behind and I could pull away nicely. I managed the whole race, so no, just a fantastic day.”

Asked if it was especially satisfying after his recent poor run of form, Gasly replied: “Yes exactly. Especially in the last four races… we had two DNFs even though the pace was there. But this weekend, the car was there, we delivered yesterday in quali, we delivered today in the race and finishing [ahead of] the two Ferraris always feels nice.”

Gasly’s team mate Yuki Tsunoda may have been the victim of the same melee that caught out Bottas, with the Japanese retiring after getting spun around going into Turn 2.

But with Gasly’s 12 points meaning AlphaTauri outscored the two earned by Alpine thanks to Fernando Alonso’s P9, the two rival teams draw level in the constructors’ – with Gasly now keen to give team boss Franz Tost that P5 in the standings, in what would be the squad’s highest ever finish.

“We’re equal on points with Alpine now,” said Gasly, “so it’s my personal target to give that to Franz so I can have a nice Christmas gift at the end of the year! So we’ll keep pushing for that and looking at our work as a team. I think we have our chances and we’ll fight until the end.”