Gasly slams ‘inexperienced’ rookies after Vegas Turn 1 brawl

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Pierre Gasly rolled into Saturday night in Las Vegas with fire in his eyes after nailing yet another top-10 qualifying spot, but the Alpine charger left the Strip Circuit absolutely gutted after a chaotic opening-lap contact torpedoed his race before it even began.

Gasly was an innocent victim in a Turn 1 melee that has become the Las Vegas GP’s unwanted signature move. Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto locked up spectacularly, plowed into Lance Stroll, and the domino effect pitched Galsy into a spin, the contact battering his diffuser.

He limped on with a wounded car, sliding backwards through the midfield and ultimately coming home a distant 15th – later promoted to 13th after the McLarens were excluded. But the damage was done long before the chequered flag.

“Got spun around, and my diffuser got smashed at the back,” Gasly explained to reporters, barely hiding his fury.

“So yeah. It’s a long f***ing flight to end up spun around on Saturday and get another unlucky race in Vegas for me.”

Damage + Pace Deficit = No Way Back

With Alpine having long halted development on its 2025 challenger, Gasly admitted the early impact left him with little hope of recovering lost ground.

“It’s not like our car’s got huge downforce on it, so if on top of that you get damage, it’s just been quite a long afternoon,” he said. “It’s just been a pretty s*** day.”

Turn 1 at Vegas has become something of a demolition lottery since the circuit debuted last year. This time, Gasly felt inexperience was at the heart of the mayhem.

“I don’t know exactly what happened with Lawson,” he said.

“But yeah, obviously Bortoleto made a pretty big misjudgment there and it was Liam also hit [Oscar] Piastri. So yeah, two guys with not much experience.

“We know it’s a tricky one from the past few years. Turn 1 is very tricky, but then you obviously need to consider that.”

Clinging to the Positives

Despite the gut-punch opening lap, Gasly refused to overlook the shoots of progress Alpine has shown recently. He has now reached Q3 in back-to-back weekends – even as the team’s development freeze leaves them vulnerable in race trim.

©Alpine

“I’m in another Q3 and it’s my ninth Q3 of the year,” he reflected. “I’m very happy with my quali performance.

“We’ve had a bit of a deep mid-season and found out some of the reasons why it wasn’t going too well. I must say, I’m pretty pleased. We’re still trying every weekend.

“It was pretty tough yesterday, but I think overall we did a good job. It’s just a shame for all the guys not to really benefit from it.”

Gasly left Vegas with more bruises than points – but also with the sense that Alpine’s qualifying strides are at least offering glimmers of hope, if not yet full weekends of reward.

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Michael Delaney