Pierre Gasly says he was in severe pain over the final laps of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which he finished in eighth place.
“The last five laps, it was just about surviving,” the AlphaTauri driver said in response to a question from RaceFans. “I was just massively in pain so I was just counting the laps to end. That’s why I’m happy we managed to finish the race in P8.”Gasly said he’d never experienced a pain like it before. “I had the feeling like every left turn there was someone stabbing me on the inside the intestine, so it was not nice.”
“It’s been the most painful last 15 laps of my entire career,” he added. “I don’t know what’s happened with my intestine, but I was dying inside the car. I was screaming because of pain.”
On his way into the pits after the race Gasly said on his radio “it’s been the worst last five laps of in my life. I don’t know what’s happened but so much pain.”
Despite his uncomfortable end to the race Gasly said afterwards he was “really happy” with his result, having dropped out of the top 10 early in the race but recovered to finish in the points.
“It was very unlucky timing with the pit stop,” he said. “We boxed and literally as I came out of the pit, I saw the safety car came out. I dropped to P14 after that and managed to make our way back to P8. So we can be happy and on my side.”
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2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
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I have an opinion
27th March 2022, 23:31
Onset of appendicitis possibly?
These drivers really are tough – persevering with buttock burns (Mansell, Button, Magnussen, etc.), vomiting (Webber) and who knows what else.
Ryan
28th March 2022, 0:20
Or possibly Crohn’s, I had similar pains, stress was the main contributor to cause it.
Hope Pierre recovers from it well. Amazing he had the focus to race with that going on.
Leroy (@g-funk)
28th March 2022, 3:40
Not a doctor but appendicitis pain is generally lower right side, not left. I’m glad that he was able to recover enough to give an interview. Hopefully it’ll be checked out and he’ll have a definitive diagnosis.
paulipedia (@paulipedia)
28th March 2022, 11:04
I’ve had it and it’s more painful on the left
I have an opinion
28th March 2022, 12:04
The location of the pain was not specified. The manoeuvre that elicited the pain was left-hand turns, which raises the possibility of a sensitive contralateral viscus.
frood19 (@frood19)
28th March 2022, 12:36
Appendicitis pain does not correspond to the location of the appendix in the body – humans have pretty lousy wiring in terms of pain receptors so the perceived location of the pain is not always a good indicator of the problem.
Mr Squiggle
28th March 2022, 12:46
Its so tempting to have a go at guessing what it might be.
My guess: Inguinal Hernia
Erkr
28th March 2022, 14:34
Ddx: strangulated hernia, muscle strain, testicular torsion, diverticulitis, mesenteric adenitis
Erkr
28th March 2022, 14:35
You mean early appendicitis may present with periumbilical pain, before the classic mcburneys point.
Psychotext (@textuality)
28th March 2022, 11:36
Could have been cramp in the intestines. I’ve had it before, took ages to subside and in the mean time it felt like being stabbed to death.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
28th March 2022, 0:38
Maybe he just needed to pass some Gas but he wouldn’t allow to be overtaken.
melanos
28th March 2022, 1:19
Passing gas while driving should’nt be much of a problem, sounds like something much more serious
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
28th March 2022, 15:47
My jokes bomb more than Saudi Arabia.
Kerry Maxwell (@kerrymaxwell)
28th March 2022, 5:45
He seemed in relatively good spirits in the aftershow, but did look pale and fatigued.