Pierre Gasly says he is aiming for a place in Q3 today in his upgraded AlphaTauri after being impressed by its performance in practice yesterday.
“We go for Q3 tomorrow, 100 percent,” said Gasly after yesterday’s two practice sessions at the Paul Ricard.
AlphaTauri brought new aerodynamic parts this weekend which are intended to improve the car’s performance in medium-to-high-speed corners. The changes include a revised floor, updated diffuser and reshaped engine cover.
Gasly said his first experience of the revised AT03 was “great” as AlphaTauri ended the day fifth-fastest out of the 10 teams.
“P5 this morning and then P7 in the afternoon so we clearly picked up some pace and that’s positive,” said Gasly. “I think there’s a lot of data to go through to understand exactly what it brought.
“But I would say overall it’s been a positive improvement. We definitely seem to have a bit more performance compared to others and hopefully we can unlock even more.”
He admitted the tyre degradation had been challenging but expects their rivals will face similar problems in the hot conditions.
“I would say it was pretty bad but I think it will be the same for all the others. But that’s what we’re going to face. We’re going to face extremely hot conditions on Sunday. Tyres are going to suffer. The cars are going to suffer.
“On the positive side, for me, physically, it was all good. And I enjoy driving on this track, this is a special feeling to be driving home and, and to have all this support.
“I’m just happy where we managed to find a bit more performance today and then hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow.”
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2022 French Grand Prix
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