2020 Italian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly comments on the ‘duel’ between him and Lewis Hamilton on the third day of the Bahrain pre-season test, and Mercedes’ performance struggles.
In the closing moments of the morning session of the final day of pre-season testing, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton were involved in a little wheel-to-wheel ‘duel’ for a few laps.
Gasly says this experience seems to indicate that the new cars will be able to race more closely.
“Well, I was quite surprised to be fighting with Lewis for a couple of laps,” the Frenchman said.
“But it was entertaining. It was interesting also to follow and just to get some data and feeling following other cars.
“So I think it’s clearly better than last year, which makes me quite optimistic in terms of racing for the season.
“It was better, clearly. We kind of overtook each other a couple of times, stayed close to each other, and it was definitely an improvement.
“So I think racing should be quite fun this year.”
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Gasly also noticed that Lewis was struggling with his car, something that both Lewis and his team-mate George Russell mentioned in their post-testing comments.
“I mean, we know on our side we have quite a lot of work to do to improve the performance, to improve the car balance.
“But clearly I could see Lewis was struggling as well and I think they do have some work to be fighting at the top.
“I think the conclusion is that Mercedes probably don’t look as good as they were in the past. But it’s only testing, it’s part of the test, and exploring how to get the best out of the car.
“But yes, in terms of racing it was clearly an interesting few laps, quite fun battles, and I think it should make all the races quite exciting for you guys this season,” Gasly concluded.
