Horner hails Gasly after strong finish at Silverstone
- Published on 17 Jul 2019 11:27
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- By: Coilin Higgins
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has hailed the performance of their driver Pierre Gasly after he finished fourth in Sunday's British Grand Prix.
Gasly showed improved form but was disappointed to not achieve a podium finish.
The good result has come off the back of a string of bad performances since the Frenchman's promotion to Red Bull at the season, such as qualifying only 17th in the opening round in Melbourne and more recently being lapped by teammate Max Verstappen in Austria.
"I think Pierre has done a very good job all weekend I think, and I think compared to the race in Austria, which really was a tough weekend for him, I think coming here, just focussing on what he's doing and going back to basics, he's been like a different driver all weekend." Horner said.
"From the first session he has been competitive, he built on that in P2 and through all three elements of qualifying he's been competitive and even the race here.
“He passed Vettel early on in the race and he was racing hard with Leclerc. I thought he drove very well today."
Gasly topped the time sheets for the first time in his F1 career during Friday's first practice session, going on to qualify fifth and ahead of Ferrari's Vettel for the race.
The former Toro Rosso driver also impressed when he pulled a daring move on Vettel around the outside of the Village corner to retake back the fifth place he lost out to the German driver off the line.
"I think his approach to the weekend definitely helped," Horner added. "He's just turned up here and has been competitive."
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Replies (10)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
And here is where I, pr**k as I am, barge in and say "it was a good finish compared to the grid, but compared to his team mate he is still underperforming, and that is what counts IMO."
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I think that saying he's underperforming relative to his teammate doesn't do justice to the mediocrity, because Max is at least a top 3 driver.
Gasly did perform better, but this kind of performance would be viewed as average if it were any other previous Red Bull driver in the past 5 years. Horner is right in praising him though, hopefully Gasly does turn a corner. I definitely didn't think he was this bad last year. As much as I despise him personally because he's a pompous prick, I hate seeing Max unchallenged and Red Bull unable to fight Ferrari with too cars
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I might need to adjust my comment a bit: I don't expect him to be on par with Max. But I do think it's fair to say that after this many races, he still isn't close enough.
JuJuHound
Posts: 352
Horner had to do it. They were bashing him (deservly) after each poor race so right now they had to praise him, which is fine but the race wasn't that brilliant. Hopefully he will carry on.
f1ski
Posts: 726
Calle have you ever raced? The pressure to be as fast as your teammate who has the ability to drive the car one position faster than it is capable is difficult. It requires not a reactive but predictive style of driving to compensate for its deficiencies . Hamilton Ricciardo and Alonso can do this vettel I think can not. Add the pressure to the equation and he over drive the car and now he is passed by a lower car. He is doing a great job
Currently he is a number two not expected to hear number one. A barrechelo Massa or a Webber great drivers not champioms
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Gasly is not a number two driver within the team, he is so because of his lack of performance. To be able to come close or even beat verstappen takes serious skill. In Silverstone Gasly had the same material as Verstappen however he still lost 0.4 seconds in qualifying. The had a similar strategy yet Verstappen was on his way to getting third or second.
Regarding driving style, Verstappens is far being reactive his car placement before turn entry allows him to have more time to sort issues versus someone like Sainz. I believe that Gasly is copying the settings from Verstappens car which says a lot, it affectively means that Gasly is able to setup his car that allows him to the speed that the team requires.
Gasly is a good driver, but should a good driver be in an RBH? I am with Calle on this. He's underperforming.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
It's difficult because it's F1. Marko's ego is the only thing keeping the better driver Kvyat out of the Red Bull car. Red Bull doesn't want a number 2 they want two number 1s.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Not professionally, no. But here is the thing: I don't have to, since you, whether you like it or not, will always be compared to your contemporaries in any trade, it's up to you to remain cool and do your thing. And even so, I wouldn't have to relate to imagine it's hard. But that is kinda a thing you need to have mastered once you take the step up to F1. The crop of the crop is racing up here, if you cannot keep cool you won't race anyone. As for if he is a Massa: I'd disagree. Massa could actively race his team mate and keep close, Max can do loops and bounds around Gasly midrace.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
It's funny how when watching the race you knew up and down the field who was going to go for it, or was the hunter, and who was being hunted, not necessarily the better driver. Gasley always felt like he was goes going to be on the losing side of the battle. His saving grace was the Ver's car had damage and everybody went into autopilot mode after the crash.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Gasly performed unusually better in this track. His Quali, and his gap to the team mate. It may not be better than that of Verstappen. But, it almost looked as if he unlocked something in him/car.