Gasly: Sochi weekend marked by 'too many mistakes'

©AlphaTauri

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A frustrated Pierre Gasly says AlphaTauri didn't deserve to score points in Russia, having made "too many mistakes" during the weekend in Sochi.

Gasly's discontent started on Saturday when the Frenchman missed out on the top-ten shootout in qualifying, enduring his worst performance since Spain.

On that occasion, Gasly believed his team was wrong to keep him out instead of pitting him for a fresh set of tyres as he wanted.

Launching his race from P11, the AlphaTauri charger lost several spots at the start but had progressed up to P6 by the end of his extended first stint.

The Frenchman appeared on course for points, but the decision to stay out during the rain-disrupted final stage of the race proved just as costly as it had for early race leader Lando Norris.

©AlphaTauri

"Overall we did a very good first stint keeping Bottas behind for 30 laps, and Carlos [Sainz] when he joined after [pitting].

"In the second stint we were right behind Bottas before the rain came, they pitted, we decided to stay out, they finished P5 and we P13, we lost quite a lot there so we’ll revisit what we can do better."

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The underperformance marked the first time this season that Gasly - a regular top-six contender this year - had failed to score points in two consecutive races, having been sidelined in Monza even before the race had started by a mechanical issue.

"The pace was strong in Monza, again strong here, but we didn’t capitalise on it," he added.

"This weekend I don’t think we deserved points as we made too many mistakes.

"And you know when it is such a difficult sport where you need to get everything to perfection we didn’t deserve it as we didn’t do a good enough job.

"We’ll work and come back stronger in Turkey."

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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.