‘Very special lap’ for Gasly keeps up Alpine's run of form

Pierre Gasly says his final lap in Q3 was a special one as he secured third place on the grid for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Alpine scored a shock double-podium at the last race in Brazil, with Gasly third behind teammate Esteban Ocon in second. While that result came in wet conditions, Friday’s qualifying in Las Vegas was in dry and cold temperatures, and Gasly excelled with his final lap putting him in the top three, behind only George Russell and Carlos Sainz.

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“It's absolutely incredible as a team,” Gasly said. “We started Bahrain on the last row with both cars, and all of a sudden, the last few weeks have been quite a change. I'm really happy and pleased with the work the team has been doing in a season where everything looked impossible, just to still stick together and put some more performance in that car.

“Going into qualifying today, I must admit we never thought we'll be in a position to actually get in that top three, but I managed to have a very special lap at the right time on that last set in Q3 and it's a very nice surprise.”

Gasly says Alpine had a clear approach to the Las Vegas Strip Circuit that has paid off so far, and he felt confident in his car’s handling from the start of the first practice session.

“We went with a pretty aggressive package in terms of downforce, so we are running very little downforce around this track," he explained. "We try to maximize the straight lines; we obviously make our lives slightly harder in the corners.

“I think it's a challenging track. It's very cold conditions. It's quite an outlier in the season. But I had a nice feeling in the car since P1. P2 went well. P3 went well. And then in that Q3, we managed to make it work with only one set of new tires as well.

“So there was definitely some good pace and for now, I'm very pleased. Obviously, it's only qualifying, but I think it's probably the first time I qualify in the top three. It feels like it was a special one.”

Gasly has both Red Bulls, both McLarens and Charles Leclerc behind him on the grid, and says he’s not overly focused on holding them at bay as he instead has is eyes on defending Alpine’s sixth place in the constructors’ standings.

“That's not really what I'm thinking about. I think we know where the target is for us," he said. "We're fighting Haas and [RB] in the constructors’. Obviously, whatever happened in that quali is amazing. It feels good to be in front of Max and McLaren and these guys, but at the end of the day, it's not our fight.

“So we'll give our best shot tomorrow. It's a challenging one around here with the graining, so we'll make sure we do our homework tonight to maximize the chances tomorrow. But for sure, from P3, we increase our chances to get some good points.”