Gasly was worried engine issue would cost him Baku F1 podium

Pierre Gasly admits he was worried a mid-race engine issue would cost him a shot at finishing on the podium in Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly (FRA) AlphaTauri celebrates his third position on the podium.
Pierre Gasly (FRA) AlphaTauri celebrates his third position on the podium.
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Gasly managed to overcut Charles Leclerc for fourth place through the pit stop phase, having lost out to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at the start.

The Frenchman suffered a loss of power midway through the race, allowing Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel to breeze past.

Despite suffering in the closing laps, Gasly managed to keep Leclerc at bay to score his third F1 podium.

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“I don’t really know what to say,” Gasly said. “It’s been such an incredible weekend. P4 in quali, P3 in the race and it was such an intense race, especially at the end. And it was very hard, I think, from middle of the race we started having an engine problem – I started to lose performance in the straight – and couldn’t be as fast anymore as the start of the race. and that’s when Seb started to catch, he passed me on the straight, and I knew it would be difficult. 

“Especially in the last two laps, I knew I would be in a tricky position to defend my position on Charles right behind and that’s exactly what’s happened. All the straights he was right there. he actually passed me before Turn 1 and yes, I saw the podium, like right in front of my eyes and I just gave everything I could. In the end I made it possible. 

“It was an intense battle but exactly how I like racing. Was very hard but fair and yes I am really pleased for the guys to get this podium together.”

Gasly remains unsure as to why AlphaTauri performed so impressively in Monaco and Baku.

“I think all in all we had the pace to be in the top five,” Gasly added. “I was keeping up with the top guys at the start of the race with the option, with the soft tyres, whatever, and then yes after that even on hards the pace wasn’t bad until we had this issue and we started to drop a bit back but all in all, a lot of question marks when it goes bad you need to understand – but when it goes that well? 

“We don’t really understand why we were so fast all weekend. We also need to understand because if there is anywhere where we can reproduce this kind of performance.”

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