Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Monaco, 2022

“We’re just not doing a good enough job at the moment” says Gasly after Q1 exit

2022 Monaco Grand Prix

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Pierre Gasly was lost for words after a red flag caused by his team mate led to his elimination in the first round of qualifying yesterday.

The AlphaTauri driver, who never placed lower than seventh in practice, will start today’s Monaco Grand Prix from 17th.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans after yesterday’s qualifying session. “I don’t think I can put words into how I’m feeling right now because the whole weekend was so good.

“I was P5 this morning, P6 [in first practice] yesterday. Every time I came out I felt super-good in the car. I was just comfortable to put the first lap times in.”

After a strong start to qualifying, Gasly had to run again at the end of Q1 to secure a place in the next round, after his team mate triggered a red flag by striking a barrier at the Nouvelle Chicane.

However not all drivers were able to leave the pits early enough to begin their final laps before the clock ran down. While Tsunoda made it to the line with moments to spare, Gasly saw the lights turn red just before he crossed the timing line.

“I just don’t understand some of the the choices we are making,” he admitted. “Obviously there is a bit of bad luck in there, it’s a mix of different circumstances. But at the end of the day, it was the same session for everyone.

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“When we decide to do only two laps, when I finished my second lap I’m P4, P5, it was good. Obviously everybody stayed on track and we decided to come in.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Monaco, 2022
Gallery: 2022 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying day in pictures
“Then after there’s a red flag I’m out of the pit lane too late. Yuki passed [the line by] one second and I think I missed it [by] two seconds. Basically I didn’t have any representative lap time.

“Our mistakes are costing us massively and unfortunately weekend after weekend it starts to be very disappointing for everyone in the team.”

Gasly said he wasn’t convinced the red flag was even necessary, calling it a “questionable” decision. “I still don’t really fully understand why it was there.

“But at the end of the day, you can argue that there was a red flag for everyone, there was the same amount of time for everyone and we were not out on the race track. So obviously, if you’re not on the race track, you don’t set a lap time.”

“There’s a lot of things we need to review,” he added. “But I think the conclusion is we’re just not doing a good enough job at the moment.

“When we have a car to finish qualifying P5, P6, I just don’t understand how we end up in such positions. We just need to do a better job.”

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
Claire Cottingham
Claire has worked in motorsport for much of her career, covering a broad mix of championships including Formula One, Formula E, the BTCC, British...

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2 comments on ““We’re just not doing a good enough job at the moment” says Gasly after Q1 exit”

  1. A red flag during the last run would have been far worse, race direction didn’t make that odd of a decision, I don’t know if they were debris or a loose piece of hoarding but race direction guaranteed we would see a final run. Gasly and others could have had a lap, problem was some cars like I said in Spain, go out late in q1 just to be a nuisance, to fill up the track, they don’t go out on good tyres, they are not there to do anything but to be a hindrance. Second larger problem is cars were gapping on pit exit, again, after race direction told them not to in Spain. They do it for 2 reason, one to get a gap, two to make it harder for other to avoid taking taking the flag. They don’t need to gap out of the pit lane, they have the whole track to find a gap.

    1. Yeah, I think given how little time there was, it was better to immediately call a red flag, so that there would be enough time for a last dash for most of them @peartree

      Given the hole in the wheel cover, I guess there would have been shards of that on track, I think one of the marshals jumped on there to get some bits and pieces. And maybe they had to push the barrier back to the right position.

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