Gasly hails 'perfect weekend' and points haul in Mexico

Pierre Gasly was all smiles after Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix which the AlphaTauri driver finished fourth, a result that reflects "a perfect weekend" and which has propelled his team to P5 in the Constructors' standings.

Gasly and AlphaTauri's flawless execution began with a fifth-place spot on the grid for the Frenchman who was able to steer clear of the drama that unfolded after the start at the first corner.

It was an uneventful afternoon thereafter as Gasly held his own, keeping everything under control as he ran behind Lewis Hamilton but also keeping himself out of reach of Ferrari's pursuing drivers.

"It was the perfect weekend," he said after the race. "I don’t think anything could have been better than that.

"We clearly did a good job yesterday in quali and then today P4, behind Red Bull and Lewis is a basically a small win for us, so I’m extremely pleased.

"A lot of points for the championship as well and the pace was just good.

"From the first lap to the end, I had everything under control and the Ferraris were never really able to attack me. So that was a very enjoyable race.

"Even if it was a bit lonely, was still enjoyable to see the pace."

• Read also: Tost baffled by Red Bull's blasting of Tsunoda

Commenting on the commotion that erupted at the first corner, Gasly admitted that it had been a close call as he had to take avoiding action.

"I saw Ricciardo took a very good start, very good slipstream," he explained.

"I kind of got a bit stuck behind Max and Lewis and I don’t know what happened for Danny, but once he touched Valtteri we had to basically avoid the contact with Sergio and go wide.

"But then after that was everything was fine. So a perfect race."

Although Gasly's teammate Yuki Tsunoda was forced into retirement after a collision at the start with Esteban Ocon, the Frenchman's points haul has pushed AlphaTauri up to fifth in the championship, level with Alpine.

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