Pierre Gasly explains ‘costly’ late spin in Austria F1 qualifying

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly admitted that he was pushing too hard after a late spin left him 10th in qualifying for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Having made it into Q3 for only the fifth time this season, Gasly was on his final flying lap when he lost the rear end of his Alpine exiting Turn 10 and was sent spinning around the start/finish straight.

The Frenchman managed to get going but had to return to the garage immediately afterwards, with the yellow flags so triggered also preventing some of his rivals from improving their lap times.

It meant that Gasly could only manage 10th in the session, more than two-and-a-half seconds off polesitter Lando Norris in the McLaren.

Speaking afterwards in the media pen, Gasly took full blame for the error that prevented him from securing a higher starting position for Sunday’s race.

“I was pushing a lot. I did a mistake,” he admitted. “I felt like I had a bit of time to get in that last corner after my lap in Q2 and I went for it.

“Unfortunately, when I turned in I didn't manage to rotate the car the way I wanted. I didn't get the apex the way I wanted and went on power, tried to turn the car and eventually it didn't go the way I wanted it. Not happy about it.”

Alpine has had a tough season so far and languishes at the bottom of the constructors’ table with just 11 points onboard, all of which have been scored by Gasly.

However, the Spielberg track appeared to be better suited to the A525, with Gasly safely progressing into the final leg of qualifying with the sixth-fastest time in Q3.

“I’m still happy about the rest of the qualifying because after all the free practices we didn't look in a very strong place and I must say Q1, Q2 we really managed to put some strong laps together, so still some positives.

“Ultimately, I think I was pushing very hard to get there and it cost me in the end.”

Gasly believes he had the pace to match Racing Bulls’ rival Liam Lawson, who ultimately qualified four places ahead of him in sixth.

“The lap I did in Q2 - in Q3 the conditions were a bit worse with the wind - I think it would have been tied with Lawson. So somewhere there.”

Despite being disappointed by qualifying, Gasly was optimistic about his prospects for Sunday’s race.

“We know our best races this year [is] whenever we got a Q3,” he said. We know Sundays are usually a bit harder for us with the [tyre] deg.

“But when you start in the top 10, it's more about making the right call for the strategy and kind of fighting a couple of cars around you rather than having to make a lot of ground.  So we're definitely in a good position and excited to see what we can get. “