AlphaTauri found cause of fire: 'The mechanics have had a lot more work'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Pierre Gasly had a shaky opening weekend of this new Formula 1 season. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, the AlphaTauri driver was well on his way to a points finish, but was hit with engine problems that forced him to pull his car over.
Gasly had a strong start on Friday, setting the fastest time in the first free practice session. He was unable to repeat that strong result for the rest of the weekend, but managed to make it to Q3 on Saturday and qualify ninth, with which he said he was 'reasonably satisfied'.
AlphaTauri tracked down the problem
During the race he was also well underway and for a long time there even seemed to be a double top ten finish in it for him and teammate Yuki Tsunoda. "A double points finish seemed likely, until my car stopped," Gasly said in a press release.
He says the problem has now been tracked down. "The team has identified the problem. The fire meant that the mechanics had to do much more work than expected to rebuild the car for this weekend," continued the 26-year-old Frenchman.
According to Gasly, his team has learned a lot about the car in recent days and realized that the midfield seems to be closer together than in 2021. "So we have to keep working hard to understand and develop the AT03, starting this weekend in Saudi Arabia," said the AlphaTauri driver.