SCAN SPORT – On Friday in Singapore, the French driver who was part of the Alpha Tauri squad was involved in a dramatic accident that turned out to be completely unimportant in the end.
More anxiety than actual danger. When we saw flames coming from Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri during the second free practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix track, we had every right to be concerned about him. These photographs make quite an impression (see elsewhere). The French driver decided to flash a grin for the cameras belonging to Canal+, especially because he was eventually able to get back on track following the incident. “It’s a little strange when you see the flames in the mirrors, but in the end, there’s nothing to be concerned about; I was able to get out of the car fast, and we were able to drive away after that,” he emphasizes. And to continue: They didn’t share any information with me. I was in charge of the mechanics, and I could tell right away that something was off (smile). After that, I observed the flames beneath the mirrors and the smoke emanating from beneath my helmet… I instantly realized that I needed to get away from the grill, and I did so. It was an improvement.
It is not yet clear what caused the fire in his automobile to start in this manner. “When I returned to the box, there is something that we should not necessarily have done in these settings in terms of process, and that is. There is, however, no cause for concern. “Only a small amount of paint was burned,” he stated, but he did not provide any further information regarding the procedural issue.
galley day
Pierre Gasly (1:44.469 – 22 laps) and his Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda (1:45.211 – 11 laps) did not create a spark on the asphalt in Singapore. This much is certain. According to Pierre Gasly, “For the moment, it is very evident that we are not doing very well; we are quite far from the Top 10 and there are major disparities between this past weekend and the previous one.” There is a lot of work that has to be done before tomorrow. We both had a difficult day, but Yuki (Tsunoda) had it even worse than I did. We were unable to participate in as many activities as we would have wanted. This evening is going to be quite taxing to get some good performance out of everyone tomorrow. Keep in mind that it was the British driver Lewis Hamilton competing for Mercedes who posted the best time in the first session of free practice. In the second race, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz (a Ferrari) replicated his performance and finished ahead of his colleague Charles Leclerc from Monaco. On Sunday, the Red Bull driver from the Netherlands, Max Verstappen, will compete in his first “title race.”