Pierre Gasly showed wonderful racecraft and pushed the A525 to its limits at the F1 Belgian GP weekend. While the Frenchman leaves Belgium with only one more point, he did everything he could to stay in the top ten, driving a mistake-free race.
Pit at the correct moment
On Friday, the Alpine driver drove an amazing lap that secured him P8 in Sprint Qualifying. However, due to a water leak Gasly had to be pushed off the grid which left him without points. In Grand Prix Qualifying, the Frenchman was unable to qualify higher than P13. Considering Alpine’s poor straight-line speed, making it through Q2 was a strong result for the driver.
Luckily, the race saw him battle his way through the field which earned him one point in the end as he finished P10. On Lap 11, the Alpine team decided to pit Gasly and opted for medium tyres. He absolutely nailed the switch from inters, allowing him to jump the Haas cars and Tsunoda.
A second stop for Nico Hülkenberg moved him up to P10, allowing him to fend off Tsunoda, Bearman and the German late on. The very skinny rear wing was critical.
“I knew I wasn’t in the top ten at that stage and I knew this was a big gain. Switched at the right moment, the previous lap it was a bit on the edge. That lap was a tricky call but I knew there was quite a lot to gain so I just decided to go for it.
“Then once we got track position, I knew I would be in a position to defend. I wasn’t thinking I was going to have to defend for that many laps with a train of cars that kept growing throughout the entire race. It was very intense. I’m sure I’m going to sleep well tonight. Probably one of the hardest points”
After Gasly climbed his way up the order to P11, he led a DRS train behind him all the way down to Antonelli in P15. The Frenchman was forced to get his elbows out and defend from both the Red Bull of Yuki Tsuonda and the Haas of Ollie Bearman closely behind him. When Hülkenberg had to box for a second time, P10 was Gasly’s to hold onto for the remaining laps.
Pierre Gasly states it was “the right call to put a red flag” initially at F1 Belgian GP
Moreover, Gasly mentioned the difficulties that came with the rear wing Alpine opted for this weekend. The team’s goal was to trim downforce in order to gain straight-line performance, tweaking it to be more circuit-specific for the demanding Spa-Francorchamps track.
“We would have been on another rear wing. We needed to make pace and the guys up there just passed us. They were faster than us on pure pace. That’s the sort of choice we made, go with a very skinny rear wing and at least give us an edge on the straights. Just had to survive and make the no mistake for the point.”
When asked if the race could have started earlier Gasly candidly responded:
“To be fair, when we started, first lap we couldn’t see a thing. That was the right call to put a red flag. There was a big cloud coming. Was there a window for five minutes? Potentially, but I think they did the right choice. And then after it’s always the same question, could you restart the race ten minutes earlier or later? I think at the end of the day, knowing the history of this track and what happens, as a driver you’d rather be ten minutes too late than ten minutes too early. I think on my side, they did the right call. And always argue a couple of minutes earlier or later. But at the end, they went on the safer side, which was the right call.”
As Gasly mentioned, while iconic, the Spa circuit can be immensely dangerous for the drivers. In 2019, Anthoine Hubert lost his life after an accident around Spa-Francorchamps in Formula 2. The tragedy deeply impacted many and around a track like this, it becomes more important to be on the safe side.
Alpine maximised the car at the F1 Belgian GP
The decision to pit the Alpine driver on Lap 11 turned out to be the right call which placed him exactly where he needed to be in order to make it into the points. When asked about making these difficult calls with the team, Pierre Gasly positively expressed:
“I must say, I’m very pleased with the way we’re working, communication, and understanding. They were able to give me a car, even though we don’t have the ultimate pace, we still managed to get the best out of the package we have. We got it right in Silverstone, today we again got it right. In Silverstone, it was good teamwork. Today, I told them, they were ready when I felt it was possible, I decided to dive in and it paid off.”
Gasly continued on to be asked about next race weekend, in which he responded:
“We’ll see. I’m taking every weekend at a time. Silverstone and Spa turned out to be strong weekends. Next week, it’s a high downforce race track. It changes the order a bit, but let’s see what we can do.”
While the 2025 season has been quite turbulent for the Alpine team, Gasly has shown phenomenal effort. The French driver’s qualifying form has been excellent and he has been outperforming others drivers in faster cars at several races. He will hope to continue the momentum in the upcoming Hungarian GP weekend.
An interesting flight ahead
Lastly, Pierre Gasly was asked about his friend, the Red Bull driver Yuki Tsuonda who was stuck behind him for around 25 laps. The Frenchman jokingly expressed:
“He’s flying with me tonight. That’s going to be an interesting flight. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sits back and doesn’t talk to me for the entire way.”
He continued on to mention that it “was obvious” Red Bull called Tsunoda into the pits too late, stating:
“I was surprised he boxed so late, I was surprised he kind of drifted behind me after the pit. I do my race, he does his race. I’m sure he’s frustrated. They went for a bit more downforce for the wet. I was probably on the skinniest rear wing of the grid. It’s just unlucky he fell behind me.”
