F1 | AlphaTauri, Pierre Gasly: ​​“Qualifying not exceptional, but happy to be in Q3”

It was Pierre Gasly himself who kept Italian pride high during qualifying for the Monza Grand Prix: the French driver was the only one, driving an Italian car, to arrive in Q3. In the morning Gasly had to stop in thirteenth position, but it will be from tenth place that he will start tomorrow, at the green light, with his AlphaTauri. By regulation, Gasly will start with the tire used in qualifying during the fastest lap in Q2, the soft; Daniil Kvyat, however, will have free choice for the starting compound, having not classified for Q3. In fact, the Russian stopped just over a tenth from Alex Albon, tenth in Q2, and will start from eleventh position.

"I'm happy to be in Q3 again – Gasly revealed – this morning, the third free practice session was difficult and we had to find a little more pace for qualifying. In both Q1 and Q2 we were fast and in the end I was in P6. In Q3, my first run on new tires wasn't great and I struggled a lot with the oversteer, there was a lot of slipping. My second run on used tires was good, but not good enough to stay ahead of the others who were on new tyres. Today we have to settle for P10, but we are all quite close and I think we have a competitive package to have a good race tomorrow".

"Today's qualifying turned into a game of slipstreams, so it could have gone well or it could have gone bad – revealed Kvyat, who had some problems with Magnussen – I was a bit unlucky with Kevin, because he went off track a bit while he was in front of me and I lifted my foot slightly, losing his trail. However, starting from P11 gives us a good opportunity to fight for the points. Everything is still at stake."