Pierre Gasly says his record of not sustaining any crash damage with his Alpine A524 Formula 1 car this season is “a great stat” and important for the Enstone team.
Damage has become a key factor in the budget cap era as teams have to account for all parts used over the season, and resources put into making replacements can have an effect on car development.
Crashes have had a huge impact on Williams, with the team having five major incidents over the Mexican and Brazilian GP weekends.
Gasly’s statistic became a talking point on social media in recent weeks, and the Frenchman is keen to maintain the record to the end of this season.
“It makes it easier to insure my cars back home!,” he joked when asked by this writer about his feat. “It’s a great stat, and at the end of the day, it’s also a very, very, very important for the team, because this money is also something which goes into the budget cap.
“So it does play a factor in the development throughout the year, and what it offers the team in terms of parts and money available.
“So obviously, we’ll try to keep it that way until the end of the year. You go into every race trying to fight at the limit. And I must say, on a season like this year, I was most of the year in the middle of the pack, so I’m not too sure, but I managed to keep it clean.”
Asked how he’s managed to stay out of trouble he said: “I think you’ve got to have a look at when is it coming from a driver mistake and error from a driving point of view, and sometimes it’s just racing incidents, and you’re not so much involved.
“At the end of the day, since the budget gap came into play, this is something we discuss a lot with the team, because it does play a big factor into the resources of the team. So I think it’s actually very positive and important to keep it that way.”
Gasly noted that Alpine’s double podium in Brazil had had a positive effect on a team that had been struggling in ninth in the championship and has now jumped up to sixth.
£I was very pleased just to see the impact of such a result on the motivation, the energy,” he said. “I spent a couple of days back at the factory, and just the smiles on everybody’s face, and just the feeling of the pride of all the guys of achieving such a result on such a difficult season.
“So big motivation, especially going into next season. I think we needed it after the season we’ve had. And I mu say every single person I came across at the factory was absolutely buzzing. So great to see.”
Gasly qualified fifth in Las Vegas last year, before dropping out of the points with tyre issues in the race. He’s hopeful that that can be addressed.
“I think last year was a fantastic quali,” he said. “The first stint, I was fighting with George [Russell] for top three, and then I fitted the hard and I had a terrible graining on the hard, and I just dropped back the order the last 30 laps.
“So I know exactly what I need to work on for this weekend. It’s a track I like, it’s a street track, it offers the usual challenges of a street track. Obviously we’re coming here with some confidence, and at the same time knowing on my side what I need to really work on.”
Adam Cooper F1 