F1 | Gasly ready for the Imola weekend: "We have to work hard"

After Sakhir's failure, Pierre Gasly is ready to redeem himself in the next Emilia Romagna and Made in Italy Grand Prix, the second round of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. Interviewed by the official ALphaTauri website, the transalpine outlined the objectives for the next race weekend, highlighting how the hope is to gain important points not only for the drivers' championship, but also for the constructors' championship.

“Apart from the accident with Daniel, we were able to take many positive aspects from the weekend in Bahrain,” said the Frenchman. “In all the free practice sessions we were competitive and qualifying in the Top 5 was one of our best results ever. Overall, in terms of performance and speed, it is encouraging for the rest of the season, starting from this weekend in Imola. From what we saw in Bahrain, it seems that we will have a package that will allow us to fight for important points and there is no reason why it should be different in the next races. Demonstrating the team's confidence is the decision to face Q2 in Sakhir with the medium tyres, a choice that - apart from us - only the two Mercedes and Max Verstappen made. It was a risk, but it shows our confidence in the car and the level of our performance. Now I hope we will be able to repeat ourselves on other circuits too.

“Taking into account all the restrictions still in place and the need to be very careful, I haven't done much since the last round,” he continued. “I spent a couple of days on the simulator and over the Easter weekend, being careful to observe all the rules, I spent some time with my family. Now it's time to go to Imola, one of my favorite circuits. I love it. It's a technical track, with lots of fast corners that allow you to get into the rhythm and there's not a moment to breathe, because it's quite twisty. Last year, on this track, I did my best qualifying ever together with the team, getting the second row. Unfortunately, that race ended too early due to a technical problem while I was in fifth place. But up to that point it had been a great weekend: I can't wait to return and redeem myself from last year's disappointment.

“The team has worked a lot since the first race, because there are still areas for improvement, even if we are clearly on the pace. But it's early in the season and we can expect progress from our rivals as they improve their understanding of their cars and how to optimize them. So, we have to work hard to stay ahead. Honestly, I can't wait to get back into running, because this three week break felt pretty long. From now on the races will be closer together and I can't wait to see what results we can achieve." he concluded.