Pierre Gasly crosses his fingers for rain in F1 Japan GP: “I would like it”. Pierre Gasly hopes that rain will increase his chances of a good result for the Japanese GP.

In Suzuka for the first points
After the big scare in the second free practice session, with Liam Lawson’s violent crash into the barriers, Alpine returned to the track today with both of its drivers, not only for FP3 but especially for qualifying. The main goal for the French team is to get out of the uncomfortable position in the Constructors’ Championship, where they are still at the bottom with no points, and the Japanese GP could be the opportunity to reach this season’s goal.

Hoping for rain
While awaiting the actual weather conditions, Pierre Gasly achieved the 11th best time, just a step away from Q3, and he was relatively satisfied with the car, except in one part of the track: “I have mixed feelings after today’s qualifying,” he explained. “As expected, qualifying was very tight, with small gaps in lap time separating a handful of cars. The car felt good, I was happy with the balance, and I managed to push through the corners, especially in sectors 1 and 3, where we were competitive. We knew we would lose some time in sector 2, given the direction we took with the car. Overall, the team did a great job, and the car has improved a lot. I feel confident, and we are in a good starting position for tomorrow. There’s a chance it will rain, which I would welcome, because it always makes things more interesting for everyone and provides more opportunities to get a good result. Let’s see what happens.” – the French driver pointed out following the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

More difficulties
The battle for points will be more challenging for Jack Doohan, who was eliminated in Q1 and will start from second-to-last on the grid, ahead of Lance Stroll: “I thank the team for the hard work they did overnight to prepare the car for today. It was a great effort, and I really appreciate that. In FP3, we were a bit behind compared to yesterday, so we had to make significant improvements every time we went out on track. The car felt reasonably good, but we still have some stability issues that we need to analyze. Maybe Q2 would have been possible with the speed we had. However, in the last lap, I made a small mistake at the exit of the ‘Spoon,’ where the car understeered a bit, and I had to lift off the throttle, which cost us time for the rest of the straight. For tomorrow, the weather forecast seems mixed, and this could give us the opportunity to improve the situation.”