Formula 1 drivers are accustomed to early starts, gruelling schedules and the occasional unwelcome surprise. But Pierre Gasly received a particularly unwelcome visitor on Thursday morning in Sao Paulo, courtesy of anti-doping officials who clearly weren't concerned about disturbing his beauty sleep.
The Alpine driver revealed that he had been dragged out of bed at the decidedly unsociable hour of 6:00am for a random drug test ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.
Not exactly the ideal preparation for a race weekend, particularly when the night before hasn't been especially restful. And Gasly made little effort to disguise his irritation when discussing the early-morning intrusion with the media.
“I got woken up at 06:00 for a doping test this morning, so I’m not in the best mood,” he told reporters at Interlagos.
“It was a bad night, but I love this place. It’s the only track where I’ve had two F1 podiums, my first in 2019 and then in 2024 in the rain. And Sunday looks like it is going to rain, so I am very excited.”
There was at least some consolation waiting for the Frenchman beyond his interrupted sleep. Interlagos has indeed been a particularly happy hunting ground for Gasly, who secured his maiden F1 podium in 2019 with Toro Rosso before returning to the rostrum five years later with Alpine in a rain-soaked 2024 race.
With another potentially wet Sunday forecast, he has every reason to fancy his chances of adding a third podium to his Brazilian collection.
Mexico misery still fresh in Gasly's mind
The 30-year-old will nevertheless arrive in Brazil with unfinished business after a frustrating end to last weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix.
Gasly initially crossed the line in 10th before Oscar Piastri's penalty provisionally promoted him to ninth. However, a yellow-flag infringement proved considerably more expensive, with the stewards handing him a 30-second time penalty and two penalty points on his superlicence.
The sanction dropped him to 17th in the final classification, wiping out what could have been a valuable points finish for Alpine.
Gasly owned up to the transgression, although he questioned the circumstances surrounding the incident, which involved a double-yellow flag displayed following Oliver Bearman's crash.
“Ultimately, I didn’t slow down enough, so I take full responsibility for the penalty,” he said.
“For the penalty, I think the circumstances of it were not very easy because the crash happened right in front of us, and I think the double yellow was right as I was at the apex of Turn 1, and I didn’t really go back on the throttle, which makes me slow down, but obviously, it wasn’t enough for the stewards to be comfortable with it.
“So it was not great, and then after that, I think there was a panel in Turn 3 which showed green, yellow, green, yellow, so the panel didn’t quite work, so it was not straightforward, but at the end of the day, it is just annoying that it cost points to the team.
“I’ve always pushed myself to be strict on yellow flags because it is safety-related, so that’s why I’m not going to argue the penalty, because in the situation, it was really safe.
“Lindblad’s car was completely to the right; I could see where it was, but nonetheless, if you have a yellow flag in Monaco or Las Vegas, or these types of tracks, we should always slow down, and that’s why, to me, I was wrong, and there is no arguing about it.
“But the question of consistency, I think, is quite clear on what needs to be done and what I haven’t done.
“Now, we’ve got a good example of what is not tolerated in a race condition, and I just expect the same for any other driver going forward.”
Looking ahead, the Frenchman will be hoping that Thursday's unwelcome wake-up call is the worst surprise Interlagos has in store for him.
After all, with two podiums already in the bank at the Brazilian circuit and rain potentially on the cards, Gasly has rather more exciting things to look forward to than another knock on the door at dawn.
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