Despite Max Verstappen Patting FIA for Planning ‘Safer Start’, Pierre Gasly “Didn’t Feel Safe” Even After All Precautions

Sabyasachi Biswas | 30/07/2023
Despite Max Verstappen Patting FIA for Planning ‘Safer Start’, Pierre Gasly “Didn’t Feel Safe” Even After All Precautions

As FIA announced that the start of the Belgian GP Sprint race would be a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car, Max Verstappen was full of appraisal over the call. However, his former teammate Pierre Gasly did not feel the same as he believed the conditions were still unsafe.

There is nothing new about the Spa Franchorchamps race having wet conditions every year. And the 2023 GP didn’t let anyone down with downpours as well. However, the FIA was enormously strict about racing in the wet this time following the recent death of Dilano Van ‘t Hoff.

Despite the strictness, the situation was not entirely good for racing as there were sprays all around, and a slight misjudgment could see a pile of cars on the track. But for Verstappen, the rolling start seemed to be a bit safer. For Gasly, it didn’t make any difference.

Gasly did not agree with Verstappen on the race-starting procedure

For Gasly, the rolling start didn’t matter as it had little impact on the race starts. Cars would easily have the slipstream and can pull away from behind. Furthermore, the Alpine driver had cars in front of him, so he had terrible visibility. As for Max Verstappen, he started from the front, so its natural rolling start would benefit him, reckoned Gasly.

The former Red Bull star, who started at P6, stated during post-sprint race press conference, “I didn’t feel safe.” Following this, he added, “When the race started I was really hoping no guy gets off the track or you know collide and gets stopped in the middle of the street.”

The Frenchman also mentioned that he was hoping for the best and not to crash against anyone. Nevertheless, Gasly and Alpine had a decent finish after a long time. P3 at the Sprint race and six points can indeed be considered a good haul ahead of the big race on Sunday.

Gasly’s performance after the overhaul is a big boost for Alpine

The Alpine F1 team has gone through a rigorous change in recent times. The hierarchy at Renault [Alpine’s parent company] sacked Otmar Szafnauer, the team principal, days after sacking the CEO Laurent Rossi.

The sacking continued for Alan Parmane, who was the Racing Director, and Pat Fry, the Chief Technical Director. Replacing them for the time being are Bruno Famin and Julian Rouse, who were given the order to be interim team principal and interim sporting director, respectively.

With the huge changes, the P3 on the very next race and a decent point haul certainly meant a positive trajectory for the Enstone-based team. And this has come amid the tough start to their season so far.

The Alpine drivers had as many as three double DNFs this season and failed to finish on points on multiple occasions. Furthermore, their closest rivals, McLaren, sped past them in a brilliant fashion. Now with a changed setup, it’ll be interesting to see how Alpine fights back from here on.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Max Verstappen Pierre Gasly

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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