Gasly understands weak areas after early-season struggles

Pierre Gasly is anticipating a stronger performance in Azerbaijan this weekend after Red Bull managed to understand why he was unable to compete with the front-runners in China two weeks ago.

Gasly recorded his best finish yet for Red Bull in China as he finished sixth and recorded the fastest lap of the race, but crossed the line over a minute behind teammate Max Verstappen.

Gasly has spoken frankly about his early-season struggles, saying he needed time to adjust his driving style to Red Bull’s RB15 car, but said in Baku on Thursday that some strides forward had been made since the last race.

“I think we found some good things after China, so I think clearly the performance should be better this weekend,” Gasly said.

“I think the end result in China, P6 with the fastest lap, I think is good to build from there. We understood more or less the lack of performance we had there, so this weekend should be a lot better.

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“For me, I know what to change in my driving to adapt a bit more and suit a bit better this car, so altogether, I think there should be some good progress this weekend.”

Verstappen has managed to finish no lower than fourth in each of the opening three races this year, leaving him third overall in the drivers’ championship with 39 points.

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While Gasly has picked up only one-third of his teammate’s tally, the Frenchman is not too concerned by the gap.

“For sure he’s feeling a bit more comfortable than me at the moment in the car,” Gasly said of Verstappen.

“I think also the fact him being with the team for the last few years, me coming from Toro Rosso, there are certain things I need to change with the way I drive to suit that car a bit better with the characteristics of the car at the moment, maybe with the car developing and me adapting a bit better, things will match pretty well.

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“There are a few things I need to change on my side, and there are things we know we can do better as well to improve the performance.

“But I think in general, these cars, it’s the same for everybody. If you want to get 100 percent out of it, it’s pretty hard.”

Additional reporting by Julianne Cerasoli.