F1 | AlphaTauri, Gasly and Kvyat on the next Russian GP

AlphaTauri hunting for points in the next Russian Grand Prix, the tenth round of this 2020 Formula 1 world championship. After the partial misstep in Mugello, Daniil Kvyat e Pierre Gasly they will try to bring the AT01 back to the top, with the aim of gaining important points for the constructors' classification. For Daniil, let's remember, it will be his home Grand Prix and he will have the chance to experience it with almost all the fans in the stands.

Pierre Gasly's statements

“After the victory in Monza, Mugello showed what can happen in this sport. We had our best free practice sessions of the year: both Friday and Saturday we were really competitive and I was fifth, but then in qualifying we had some problems. However, I was confident that I could recover positions in the race, but unfortunately my Grand Prix lasted little more than one corner. It's a shame, given how the race went, there would certainly have been opportunities to do something good. But this is racing.

Now we can focus on Sochi. I have to say that it was pleasant to be able to spend a weekend without races, because the calendar is quite intense. It's important that the team's mechanics and engineers take a break, so they can reset and return to Sochi in top form. It's a completely different track to the ones we've raced on so far. It is much slower than Monza and Mugello. In a way, Sochi is a sort of street circuit and most of its corners are 90-degree corners to be taken in fourth or fifth gear, all very similar. And then there is the final, slower sector. It's an interesting track, but it's difficult to make predictions now. One of the nice things is that I think we will have many more spectators allowed in the stands, more than at Mugello, and this will create a different atmosphere.

We'll see how it goes, but I'd say we're working in the right direction with the car. We learned a lot about setting up to improve performance. We are quite consistent in terms of performance and have shown that we are constantly improving. We have a better understanding of the car and the updates introduced seem to work well. We need to make sure we stay out of trouble now as everything is happening in the race at the moment. We want to continue with this positive momentum: in Spa and Monza our performances were good, as well as in Mugello, at least until qualifying. The gaps between the cars in the central group are within three tenths, so it will be important for us to do everything perfectly if we want to fight with those in front of us.

Now I also had a little more time to digest and enjoy what happened a few weeks ago in Monza, given that everything was very hectic in Mugello. It was a great moment that came thanks to a lot of hard work from everyone. I think it gave a real boost, not only to those who work on the track, but to the whole team, even those who work behind the scenes. Now we will try to continue with good performances like those we have already shown at the beginning of this season."

Daniil Kvyat's ratings

“It was nice to be able to have a little break after Mugello. It wasn't an easy race for us, but I managed to stay out of trouble, with all those crashes and red flags. I stayed focused so as not to make any mistakes and, in these situations, that's what's needed to aim for a good result. I think we managed to do quite well and got the maximum points we could aim for. I really liked Mugello, a track with gravel escape routes: this is how circuits should be! It made every high-speed corner even more exciting, because all it took was one small mistake to find yourself on the gravel and there was no need to argue about track limits.

I would say that our car has been competitive in these last few rounds and has made continuous progress. Overall, the core group is very tight and – as we have seen under normal circumstances, without any unusual events in the race – we are slightly behind McLaren, Racing Point and Renault. However, we are talking about very small margins. We are trying to close the gap completely and I believe we are on the right path to do so.

It's fantastic to be able to race at home, with your compatriots in the stands cheering for you. Obviously, I'm really happy about this weekend in Sochi, which is always very special for me. We had already seen some fans at Mugello and I think there will be many more this weekend, it will be very nice. Clearly it will be important to keep everyone safe but, like any race, there are checks and measures in place to ensure everyone's safety. I hope viewers will enjoy the show. I think the grandstand at Turn 3 is still named after me, so I hope to see a lot of fans there. That curve is very long, but it's not very difficult to tackle: in qualifying, in the dry, it's done completely. Taking into account predominantly medium and low speed curves, it is necessary to find a good compromise in terms of downforce. But once you find the right balance, everything is much simpler. Tire degradation is low and we can hypothesize a one-stop race, but we will have to be careful, because we will be using rather soft compounds. As usual, we will have a busy Friday during which we will try to understand more."