During the race, Gasly and Ocon touched each other after the early red flag. Gasly’s car lost some downforce, making it harder to race. He said it felt like the car lost around 33 points of downforce, which can make the car slower by 0.7-0.9 seconds per lap.
Ocon’s car also got damaged. Both drivers had a tough race afterward. Gasly finished 15th, and Ocon finished 16th.
Gasly explained, “I was doing well at the start, moving up three positions. But during the second start, I got squeezed between Yuki and Esteban. Esteban’s car hit mine, damaging the left side of my car’s floor. It affected the performance of my car a lot. I tried to keep going, hoping for another red flag to fix it, but it was tough.”
Gasly mentioned some positive news. The team introduced some upgrades to the car, including a new front wing. “The upgrades worked as we expected,” he said. “But we still need to improve. We know we’re not as fast as we want to be. The team is working hard to make the car better. We appreciate the effort they’re putting in.”
Gasly doesn’t expect more upgrades for the next race in China. “We’re still figuring out what changes to make,” he said. “But we’ll have more upgrades in the upcoming races.”
Gasly knows it will take time for the team to improve significantly. “We need to make big changes in the long run,” he said. “But for now, every small improvement we make will help us get better. Right now, we’re at the back of the middle group of teams. But if we keep making progress, we might score points later in the season.”
