Pierre Gasly says he doesn’t know whether he’ll do all six of the remaining races this year after he makes his F1 debut for Toro Rosso this weekend.
“At the moment I don’t know how many races I’m going to do in F1,” said Gasly. “There is nothing confirmed. The team told me to focus on this weekend, I’ll try to do my best.”
Gasly has raced in Super Formula this year and has a chance to win the championship at its final event which is on the same weekend as the United States Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old only found out on Tuesday he would be racing this weekend in place of Daniil Kvyat. Gasly said he felt sorry for his predecessor but suggested Kvyat may return.
“I didn’t have the chance to talk with him yet,” said Gasly. “But unfortunately that’s how it works in this sport.”
“Being in my position before I came to F1 I was waiting for the chance and then you have to take it off someone else. Of course I feel sorry for him, I think he’s a really good driver, talented. Unfortunately it’s happened and I’m going to take his seat but I’m pretty sure we’ll see him back on the grid at some point maybe and we’ll see what’s going to happen in the near future.”
Gasly said he is prepared to be patient when he gets behind the wheel for the first time tomorrow.
“I’ve been competitive in lower series,” he said. “I’ve won the Eurocup in two litres, finished second behind Carlos [Sainz Jnr] in [Formula Renault] 3.5, I’ve won GP2 and I’m racing in Japan this year and fighting for the championship with one race to go.”
“The pace, it will come. I think Formula One is brand new for me, it will be by first GP but there is no real target. Of course I’m here to learn as quickly as possible and perform for the team but at the moment I think I need to take each step at at time, learn as quickly as possible next to Carlos and then we will see where we are.”
“I’ve been dreaming about this weekend so many times and it’s finally happening. So I’m just excited, I’m also competitive, of course I want to do well but also need to be objective. Coming in with six races to go for me there will be many things to learn and I’m just going to try to do my best to learn as quickly as possible.”
HUHHII (@huhhii)
28th September 2017, 9:43
Are there any pics of his helmet design yet? Will he use the same design he had in Super Formula/Formula E or is he going to alter it?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
28th September 2017, 10:15
@Huhhii Looks pretty similar to his Super Formula one:
https://www.racefans.net/2017/09/28/2017-malaysian-grand-prix-build-pictures/motor-racing-formula-one-world-championship-malaysian-grand-prix-preparation-day-sepang-malaysia-27/
HUHHII (@huhhii)
28th September 2017, 11:09
@keithcollantine That’s a shame. Sainz and Verstappen have pretty colorful designs so it seems RB is allowing drivers to come up with more creative designs these days. Too bad that Gasly is continuing with general RB design instead of doing something different.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Nitzo (@webtel)
28th September 2017, 10:18
If Gasly does very well (points finishes preferably) in Malaysia and Suzuka, i see no reason why STR wouldn’t have him back for the last three races.
Ex F1 fan
28th September 2017, 12:06
I could see him missing the US GP if they want to allow him to push for the SF title, think the race is the same weekend and not sure what he would get out of racing in Japan to fly over and do just Sunday at Austin. But the rest of the year, if he doesn’t look lost what is there to lose for Red Bull?
Nitzo (@webtel)
29th September 2017, 6:25
For sure he is going to miss the US GP. If he does come back for the last three races though, gotta feel sorry for Daniil. They are anyway going to have him for the next year. He is more experienced. They can have him race and may be let Gasly do a few FP1 sessions. Daniil is the senior driver here. Treating him like this isn’t helping anyone.