Alpine F1 driver
Pierre Gasly reflected on scoring P7 during the 2023
Sao Paulo Grand Prix at
Interlagos Circuit.
The two drivers qualified in P12 and P13 but were penalized after the
session for impeding other cars at the pit exit and having to start from P14 and P15 as a consequence.
However, two drivers made an outstanding recovery through the race.
Ocon finished in P10, and Gasly managed to cross the line in P7.
The number 10 driver even overtook
Lewis Hamilton on
Mercedes in P8. As reported by
formula1.com, he told the media: "
I’m very happy with today’s race, and I would say it was one of our best performances of the season."
Gasly was so satisfied with the race to put it amongst the best performances of the season, like his P3 during the Sprint race in
Belgium and Ocon's P3 in
Monaco.
"It was a very challenging race to manage with multiple stints and pit-stops, but the entire team did a great job today to make the right calls and execute the stops well."
Alpine team produces its own engines, which should be an advantage compared to teams like
McLaren and
Aston Martin, who buy engines from other teams. But the team has been struggling this season.
"For the team, in seventh and tenth, it’s clearly a strong performance, especially after starting from near the back of the grid."
Gasly finished only six seconds behind
Carlos Sainz on
Ferrari who started the race 8 positions ahead of the Frenchman, hinting Alpine was faster than both Mercedes and Ferrari this weekend.
"We competed with Carlos [Sainz] and the two Mercedes throughout, so that is clearly a good step forwards from yesterday."