Is Pierre Gasly’s Aggressive Driving Style Costing Him Time Vis-A-Vis Max?

Pierre Gasly had a wonderful time at the 1000th F1 race.

The 2019 Chinese Grand Prix may have been clinched by Lewis Hamilton, nailed by Mercedes that enjoyed a 1-2 finish. But at the end of the day, the Chinese GP was a contest where Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly left a lasting impression.

This is for the simple reason that Pierre Gasly of Red Bull, driving in his first season for the Milton Keynes outfit set the fastest lap of the contest. This was particularly exciting as competing against some of the quickest drivers on the grid- such as Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, and his own teammate, Max Verstappen– Pierre Gasly earned 9 points, an extra point earned at the back of his quickest lap time for the 2019 contest.

In so doing, not only did Pierre Gasly stood a respectable sixth at one of the most followed sporting events of the whole year, but the French driver proved that he could counter the pace of someone like ‘Mad Max’ Verstappen.

But all that told, the 23-year-old driver from France has made an interesting confession. He states that he can see the clear differences between his driving style versus that of his Dutch teammate.

And this very wide gap between the driving styles of the two Red Bull drivers is reflecting in the performances of the two noted names placed at the Christian Horner-led team.

So what exactly is Pierre Gasly‘s view?

Apparently, he’s found the exact slot or area where he’s losing time in comparison to more experienced (and possibly, more mercurial?) teammate Verstappen.

Perhaps, it’s worthwhile to note the observations made by Pierre Gasly ahead of the 2019 Azerbaijan GP:

It’s not so much turn-in,” Pierre Gasly said. “Most of the time it mainly exits, just putting the power down. I’m sliding too much, basically. I think it’s being a bit too aggressive with the car, asking a bit too much to the rear axle so stressing the rear.

“At this moment we know that’s one thing we’re trying to improve: the rear potential on the exit. [I’m] a bit too aggressive so there are things we try to improve to go around it and try to make it a bit better through these areas.”