Gasly rues 'snowball effect' that thwarted Austrian GP

©RedBull

Another race, another disappointment for Red Bull's Pierre Gasly who suffered the embarrassment of being lapped by teammate Max Verstappen in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.

Gasly launched his race from P8 on the grid and found himself right on the heels of Verstappen following the Dutchman's botched start.

However, that was as good as it would get for the Frenchman who gradually watched his teammate race into the distance while he stagnated in eighth before losing ground during a poorly managed second stint.

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"I struggled with the traffic at the beginning and spent quite a lot of time there," said Gasly, who desperately needs to get himself in gear if he is to avoid the wrath of Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko.

"It kinda was a snowball effect with the time we spent behind, the hotter everything gets and just struggled with that, struggled to get past Kimi [Raikkonen] and the cars around," he added.

"After the pit stop, I pushed too hard and destroyed the front tyres after the first few laps.

"And after that, just struggled with blistering. It wasn’t the best management on my side, so it makes the afternoon quite tough."

©RedBull

Gasly was asked after the race and after another under-performance if he was perhaps putting too much pressure on himself. But the 23-year-old denied that was the case.

"It's not like I put so much pressure on myself, it's more like finding the direction that really suits me," he contended.

"For sure, Max feels really comfortable with that car which is not really the case for me. Some weekends we find a good direction, some weekends it's a bit more complicated.

"There are a lot of things I can take from him, with that car I can extract more.

"We'll keep working because I'm a competitive guy and I'm not happy at the moment with my performance. We'll keep pushing until I get happier."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.