Gasly: Fantastic qualifying result feels 'really special' in Japan

Beyond the obviously impressive result achieved by Toro Rosso on Saturday, the fact that it was delivered at Honda's home track added a special feeling says Pierre Gasly.

The Frenchman qualified seventh for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, just 0.70s off team mate Brendon Hartley, a surprising by welcomed presence among the top-10.

"It’s a fantastic result today, sixth and seventh for Honda in Suzuka is clearly a really good job compared with some of the others we had this year - I’m really happy for the team!" said Gasly.

"It’s probably the best qualifying for the team since the beginning of the year, and to do it in Japan is really special. "

• Ecstatic Hartley vindicated by career best qualifying performance

Indeed, the Faenza-based outfit's result in Japan bettered the squad's previous best performance which had been P6 and P8 in Hungary earlier this year.

While Gasly was delighted with the outcome of qualifying he insisted a more difficult task likely lay ahead.

"Suzuka is difficult to overtake, so we really need to focus on the start," he said.

"Both Brendon and I have felt good in the car all weekend so we’ll keep pushing as we have some fast cars around us.

"We’ll have to fight hard, but hopefully we can have a good start and give Romain a hard time in P5.

"Since the beginning of the season we managed to make it work and catch the opportunities we have had, so once more we need to stay focussed and really try to get the best result possible."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter