AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly has revealed that he is keen to enjoy a strong 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, having suffered disappointment in 2020 after a strong Qualifying.
Gasly enjoyed a strong performance in the opening day of last year’s two-day race weekend, finishing fourth in Practice then Qualifying before a power unit failure forced him to retire from the race.
Now as he returns to Imola six months on, Gasly has spoken of his determination to seek a stronger weekend, saying; “… it was a very good weekend up until then [retiring from the race], so now I’m keen to get back there and make up for last year’s disappointment.”
Gasly also spoke of his “love” for the track and explained why, commenting; “It is technical with a lot of fast corners which allows you to get into a rhythm and you are always busy as it is quite twisty.”
Bahrain’s season-opener however ended in disappointment after an early collision with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo saw Gasly finish outside of the points, although the Frenchman felt that there were plenty of ‘positives’ to take from the weekend.
Pointing to two aspects which he found “encouraging” for the coming races and rest of this season, Gasly said; “Overall, in terms of performance and speed, it is very encouraging for the rest of the season, starting with Imola this weekend.
“From what we saw in Bahrain, it seems we have a package that will allow us to fight for the big points and there is no reason for that not to be the case for the coming races.”
Last year’s Italian GP race winner, however has urged caution because there are still various areas in which AlphaTauri are striving to improve, especially with all other teams also expected to make progress in understanding and optimising their cars.
Gasly also acknowledged the three-week gap between the two opening races despite spending Easter with family whilst obeying rules, saying; “Honestly, I can’t wait to go racing again as this three-week break has seemed quite long.”
Tsunoda Returns to Home of First F1 Drive
Yuki Tsunoda meanwhile claimed two points on his F1 debut in Bahrain, which he “very much enjoyed”, although he did admit to being bemused at the increase in media work which he “was not expecting…” compared to the considerable less media work in junior categories.
Unlike upcoming races in Portimao and Monaco, Imola won’t be new for Tsunoda who tested here with the team in November for his first experience of a F1 car, with the Japanese youngster confident of little issues at this circuit compared to two of the next three races on the calendar.
Tsunoda therefore has spoken of his strategy towards approaching this weekend, explaining; “I will use the experience from the first race and I already have confidence in the car in Imola.”
Singling out the “fast chicanes” plus various elevation changes for praise on a track that features several “medium speed corners”, Tsunoda is a big fan of this circuit but plans to start the weekend with a focus on “gradually building up my pace.”
On plans for this weekend, Tsunoda confirmed that he and AlphaTauri are focusing solely on the car’s setup in order to try and maximise that advantage at the team’s home race, given that the track is circa 22 minutes from the team’s factory.
Tsunoda also admitted that he is surprised at the better reaction of European fans than his home fans in Japan, although he feels that the reaction contrast is “cultural” with Japanese fans opting to judge after a few rounds rather than solely on one race.