Pierre Gasly, Red Bull, Bahrain International Circuit, 2019

Gasly will get confidence boost from Bahrain result – Horner

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In the round-up: Pierre Gasly’s Bahrain Grand Prix performance should boost his confidence, says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

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What they say

After a disappointing qualifying performance Gasly rose five places – the most of any driver to finish eighth in Bahrain:

I think today will have been a good boost of confidence for him. He’s raced competitively, he’s raced hard, he’s had to overtake quite a few cars today and been competitive in the secod half of the race. I think he can take a lot out of this weekend and carry that into future races.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

So much went on in yesterday’s race it was hard to know what to react to first:

Leclerc was even better than in qualifying. Clearly he has to learn how to start from the front, but his chasing down Vettel so soon really astonished me. Obviously you feel sorry for him but I expect he’ll win various times this season.

I also to be honest feel sorry for Vettel, being passed by Leclerc and then pushed into an error by Hamilton, not a good day.

The end was a disappointment, two Renaults out simultaneously? That was weird.
@David-br

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Keith Collantine
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42 comments on “Gasly will get confidence boost from Bahrain result – Horner”

  1. Vettel has been outclassed by Leclerc, both Saturday and Sunday.

    It must be embarrassing to a 4-time world champion to see your teammate fight back from a bad start, close the gap to you, overtake you and then drive away from you… so easily.

    However, I don’t know what was more embarrassing. That, or once again losing a wheel to wheel battle and capping that off with another pathetic mistake (the spin).

    I know 2 things for sure, though: 1. He’s going to wake up multiple times screaming tonight (after having cried himself to sleep first) and 2. This is going to be a long, awkward and very painful season for Sebastian.

    1. If you’d listened to any post-race interviews you’d have realized that the conditions were very very tricky and the only reason Sebastian was slower than his teammate was because his setup just wasn’t right for him and he said he knew it would be a hard race after the first lap. the reason Leclerc could actually even overtake him was simply because his car was that much better and he just had a better balance overall and could actually race. The spin was just a small mistake combined with the gusty conditions at turn 4 and the dirty wake from Lewis’s car all having a small impact which ended up with him spinning. You should check your facts before you write something like that again buddy

      1. You’re a rare breed Farzad. A Vettel apologist who hasn’t already jumped ship. Good on you mate, do you still believe in Santa as well?

      2. petebaldwin (@)
        1st April 2019, 12:31

        I wouldn’t bother responding to him Farzad – it’s rare he posts anything that isn’t having a go at Vettel. The hate is deep-rooted with that one.

        1. Max fans would say the same @petebaldwin As a Dutch guy I actually like to see him do well and I really like him as a driver, but I do not like him as a person and so I got tagged as a VER hater many times on here.

          To be fair, the same thing happened when I critiqued Hamilton, Ricciardo or Rosberg etc. Unfortunately, every critique of a driver will be badly received by fans of that driver. As an F1 fan since the 90’s I don’t really have a favourite that I support mindlessly.

          I did, however, recognize Vettel wasn’t the real deal during the 2010-2013 era like Hamilton and Alonso did. Remember them saying he wasn’t as good and that they were beaten by RedBull the car, rather than Vettel the driver? I very much disliked his fake dominance and it frustrated me that there were people who seriously thought he was amongst the sports all-time greats.

          Leclerc seems to be in that special category and he also seems like a great, humble personality. That’s fantastic for the sport imho. If Vettel is being found out in the process I’ll admit I’m enjoying that. But if he does well I will also give him the compliments he deserves.

    2. Agree with 1. For 2, too early to say with 19 races to go @jeffreyj

  2. Red Bulls were comparatively slower than McLarens and only Verstappen’s block-headed driving gave them a distant chance of podium. And just to let you know, I don’t need anyone now to prove me wrong and tell me how Verstappen wasn’t at fault with Sainz, I’m talking about principles. You just can’t have someone on the track with whom there’s like 95% chance (and I’m being quite generous) of contact, and still letting him to drive like this. Again, what can you expect from Horner, a pure political gibberish. China will show the king is naked and Red Bull’s going to lose a position or two.

    1. Have to agree with you about most – VER always seems to be involved in crashes but it’s never his fault.
      He may be seeing the back side of Renault powered cars often if today is any indicator.

    2. Did you bother watching the onboards?

      I went back to review them because it’s quite true that Max drives aggressive & angry, but the stewards didn’t penalize him. Sainz was driving brilliantly, no doubt, but he left zero room at the apex. I honestly don’t think he knew where Verstappen was in relation to himself. Sainz had DRS, Max made his one move to the inside to cover the apex, Sainz tried to go around and just took the corner a bit too tightly. Verstappen was still very much side-by-side when Carlos turned in.

      Could Verstappen have backed out? Sure. Should Sainz have left a car’s width? Sure. Very easy to chalk up as a racing incident.

      I’m just happy to see McLaren looking strong & hungry for the first time in what…six years?

    3. Red Bulls were comparatively slower than McLarens

      true

      I don’t need anyone now to prove me wrong and tell me how Verstappen wasn’t at fault with Sainz

      ok, but…
      If there was no Max, we going to have 4 Toro Rosso car, not 1 Red Bull and 3 Toro Rosso like the first two races. I don’t believe Gasly is that bad. Honda might be more reliable this years, but power wise it just not in Renault level yet.

    4. When it happened last year it was Max his fault because he didn’t give Lewis enough room. You can’t blame Lewis for being there.

      This year it is Max his fault because he was there. You can’t blame Sainz for not giving any room.

      Double standards.

  3. We only need an image of one of the Renaults blowing up, and Horner can enter the Caption Competition.

    1. …and Horner can _win_ the Caption Competition

      FTFY

  4. Does anyone else feels that the cars are really able to run closer from the front car?

    1. @matiascasali Yes, I do. At least on this circuit, It indeed looked like they could follow better than in the previous seasons.

    2. The fact that we saw two Mercedes and two Ferrari’s following, scrapping and overtaking in the first couple of laps sans DRS says it all.

      Looks like we have dropped back to 2014 levels of dirty air which is great to be honest as we have a closer field than that year to boot.

      I say this because Lewis’s move on Valterri was textbook identical to what he pulled on Nico and I didn’t really see anything like that or his move on Vettel the last few years.

  5. I have to say, Horner delivers the slickest burns.

    1. Horner is very under-appreciated. I know I have a twisted sense of humour, which makes me kind of like the guy. But well people always take things too serious with him.

      Renault blowing up though will make him right, and that will annoy a lot of people

  6. Thanks @keithcollantine :)
    Leclerc was obviously far more unlucky than he was lucky, but the Renaults going out obviously saved him from being caught by Verstappen. At the same time, had they gone a few laps earlier and the field been bunched up, who knows where he’d have dropped to. But the real disappointment I was alluding to was not getting a last mad lap at the end after the SC went in!

    1. Good CotD, @david-br , congratulations.

  7. Of the top 10 finishers …. power units:
    3 Mercedes
    3 Ferrari (or is that 2.6 ?)
    1 Renault
    3 Honda
    It would seem that Honda is making progress. They may be down on power and the double Renault failures helped, but by the end of the year, it will be numbers that everyone looks at. That’s 3 of 4 cars in the points. Wow!
    This is going to be one heck of a season.

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      1st April 2019, 8:22

      Gasly was very lucky that Grosjean and the 2 renaults retired. 9th or more likely 10th will have been he highest i think. Given the overtaking ability on this track, he was just as poor as last race. Kvyat is certainly looking more impressive than him this season so far.

      1. Given Magnussen’s pace, not so sure about Grosjean bit there @thegianthogweed, but have to agree about the two Renaults.

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          3rd April 2019, 19:49

          Given Grosjean started further back, i don’t think Haas will have tried the one stop on him. So strategy alone i think could have helped him stay ahead of gasly. but yes, can’t be sure.

    2. but 100% of Renault finishers finished in the points

  8. I had to take a close look at the lap charts to see what Horner was referring to, but indeed Gasly’s second half of the race was turning around. He was closing on Raikkonen and Norris towards the end and without the safety car could have been a nice finish for him. Still, matching Albon for pace in the first stint is bewildering…

    Regarding Renault, they were so close to splitting the Red Bulls, would have squarely put their engine where it needs to be in the standings. Besides the technical failures there’s work to do in the strategy department. Failures on top of failures, but if you scratch away all that there’s a faint glimpse of something special underneath. Question is, can they actually manage to do that?

    This race was so close to being a story of Renault and McLaren actually coming good and being solid on the heels of the top 3, such a shame.

    1. I had to take a close look at the lap charts to see what Horner was referring to, but indeed Gasly’s second half of the race was turning around.

      Horner was referring to Verstappen making the podium if not for the safety car, @skipgamer.
      For Gasly to ‘see the podium’ he currently needs all other PU’s to blow up, and probably even one Honda. Let’s hope he can turn his performance around soon.

      1. Gasly wouldn’t have even finished in the points if it wasn’t for both Renault’s Renaulting.

  9. so close
    over 30 sec
    so close

  10. All he now needs to do is to start reaching Q3.

    I thoroughly agree with the COTD.

    Horner’s banter, though.

  11. Red Bull really messed up by promoting Gasley ahead of calling home Sainz imho.

    This whole argument that he and Verstappen didn’t get along is BS, they were joking around and hanging out together in the drivers parade and then even after the race after they’d had contact, Sainz refused to be drawn on the matter.

    It certainly would have been no worse than Danny Ric and Max in terms of on track risk but… at least they could have been on the same part of the track together. Gasley won’t be sharing tarmac with Max anytime soon if his performances recently are any indicator.

    1. Sainz was beaten by Hulk easily and Norris as also impressed me more. Yeah Sainz as been unlucky but from race one Norris is either ahead or just behind in 1 lap pace. I would be expecting Sainz times to be jumping out at me vs Norris, but nope it is the other way around.

      Sainz carear is not looking to promising if he is beaten by Max, Hulk and now a rookie. Sainz is obviously a good driver but i do not rate him as being good enough for Red Bull. Says it all why Renault ditched him for Ric really. Sainz would struggled to be on the grid if Alo did not retire. Probably only Haas he could went to. I highly doubt Sainz would fare much better than Gasly maybe a tenth or 2. RedBull would rather wait on Gasly tho im sure.

      1. Maybe RedBull should have taken Hulkenberg for the 2nd seat?
        He’s way more experienced and confident than Gasly is, we all knew he’s on the level of Ricciardo if not better and he also gets along very well with Verstappen.

  12. I’ll have some of what Horner’s been smoking …
    Gasly’s result is confidence-inspiring? Even in a race with low attrition, making up no more than 5 places on such an overtaking-friendly track despite qualifying 13th in a car that was demonstrably quick enough for 5th would count an embarrassment.
    But it wasn’t even that much of a low-attrition race. He gained at least two places due to his competitors’ misfortunes (Hülkenberg’s apparently engine-related DNF and Carlos Sainz’ puncture), so he only really gained three places. Those three drivers he beat somewhere between start and finish were: Albon (overtaken at the start, and again shortly after his final pit stop) and the two Haases (Grosjean: overtaken at the start, then punted out of the race by a sloppy Stroll; Magnussen with inexplicably terrible race pace, finishing ahead of Stroll and the Williamses, and no one else).
    He did go wheel to wheel with other drivers as well, but it was a zero-sum game in these cases: He was overtaken by Pérez at the start, but managed to overtake him near the middle of the race; he overtook Norris at the start, but was overtaken again after a few laps.

    Summary:
    – Started way out of position.
    – Failed to make a lasting impression on anyone in his surroundings that didn’t run into serious problems.
    – Did manage to overtake a Toro Rosso after a race-long battle.

    That would’ve been an acceptable performance for a rookie in a Toro Rosso. But he’s not Alex Albon, he’s a Red Bull driver in his second season. His performance was abysmal.

    1. In the case of Magnussen, Haas, inexplicably, tried to run a one stop strategy in a race where two stops was clearly better, which is why his pace was so poor.

      It could also be noted that, although Gasly did eventually get past Ricciardo, Renault had also made the same mistake of putting Ricciardo on the same flawed one stop strategy as Magnussen. Without those mechanical issues, Ricciardo probably would have finished ahead of Gasly on a normal two stop strategy – if Sainz, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg had finished where you’d expect them to, Gasly might not have even made it into the points.

      1. @nase None of your glass half empty analysis on Gasly changes that Horner is likely right in that his driver will take a glass half full approach after the weekend. As the less experienced driver and the newbie on the team Pierre seemed to have been experiencing the same issues Max was, mainly with the back end and traction. They have work to do. Yet Gasly did have some positive moments for having a car that he is still trying to adapt to which the team is still trying to figure out and improve, and will never stop doing. I think both deserve the time to do that. Or is F1 just easy and nothing short of immediate brilliance by both team and car is acceptable? Anyway, even if all teams and drivers had come out of the blocks this year showing immediate brilliance, completely in tune and on top of their game, there’d still be an order of first to last at the end of the day, the bottom ones still appearing to be out of it and bad at F1 and should just go home;)

        1. @robbie

          None of your glass half empty analysis on Gasly

          I’m going to stop you right there. This is not a matter of perspective. The glass was bone dry.

          1. The glass was bone dry.

            Hahaha! Brilliant.

  13. Nice couple videos of Russell and Kubica going at it in first stint, traded places a few times, after the 2nd video ends, kubica again retook Russell. (kubica yellow tyres, Russell faster red tyres) Russell retook kubica in 3rd vid after pitsops. After that kubica lost all pace saying the car was undrivable. The team will be using kubicas chassis in the upcoming test, so will be interesting to see if Russell verifies kubicas view that they are driving different cars, as team data suggests kubicas car has less downforce loads. Expect a new chassis for kubica in upcoming races.
    https://youtu.be/eEcp5aUHrxg
    https://youtu.be/mwdpqG52X8
    https://youtube.be/rl5bp3QNmbI
    Also here is an onboard of their super close qualifying battle:
    https://youtu.be/MLzPj6YU7bg

    1. https://youtu.be/-mwdpqG52X8
      2nd video link correct link

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