AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly is aiming to uphold his recent strong momentum and finish his 2021 campaign on a high note in Abu Dhabi.
The Frenchman's run to P6 in Saudi Arabia – his fourteenth top-ten finish of the season - went a bit under the radar, veiled by the incidents and controversies triggered by the action up front in Jeddah.
But it was nevertheless another productive drive that capped an already solid weekend for Gasly and pushed him up to a century of points in the Drivers' standings.
"That race in Jeddah is possibly the craziest race I have ever been in," he said ahead of next weekend's season finale.
"I had to wait until I watched it all on TV to see all the battles and incidents and understand everything.
"Over a single lap, the track was brilliant to drive, but it got a bit crowded in the race!
"We showed good pace again right from free practice on Friday and that resulted in another fantastic qualifying.
"In the end, I started sixth and finished sixth which is great, even though after the start I lost some places, but it's the final result and points that matter.
"And speaking of points, I am happy to have reached 100 points total for the first time in my F1 career."
Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina track has been altered for this years' event, with changes reducing the layout to 5.28km and leading to a series of faster corners that should help boost overtaking opportunities that have traditionally been few and far between in the past.
"I’ve always liked it and there’s a special atmosphere as it’s the last race of the season, the end of all the hard work over a year," Gasly commented.
"And even the track itself is quite interesting, although the layout has been changed for this year, making it overall a bit faster and more flowing, so I’m looking forward to seeing what effect that has on making overtaking easier."
F1 teams will race their current-spec cars for the very last time next weekend, and Gasly hopes to send AlphaTauri's venerable AT02 into retirement with a god result.
"The weekend also marks the end of an era as it is the last time we race with these cars, the ones I’ve known since I started in F1, before the very big change to the technical rules comes in for next year, with new wheel sizes and a completely new look and design for the cars," he said.
"So, it would be nice to end what has been a very good year for the team on a high note, showing a strong performance at the final race."
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