24/08/2022
NEWS STORY
Pierre Gasly: "I enjoyed the break, visiting Greece for the very first time for a week with friends and after that, it was more of a family time in France with my parents, all my brothers, nephews and nieces and then a couple of days in Spain. Nothing incredible, but it helped to unwind and be with my family, while also doing some training. Above all, I got plenty of rest prior to the final part of the season. After that it was back to work, starting with a trip to the simulator. Everyone has been hard at work since Monday and my phone is definitely much busier than it had been over the past three weeks!
Spa is one of my favourite tracks, I love it. We will be back on the starting block with three races in three weeks and after the break I am of course excited at the thought of getting back in the car and going racing again. The last few races before the break had been rather complicated for us, with no points scored and things did not go our way. It was not what we wanted as a team. Since France, we've had some updates on the car, which we now understand a bit better. But it's still complicated and the midfield teams are all very close. We're not throwing in the towel, we are continuing to work hard and give our maximum to try and bring out more performance from the car as quickly as possible, so that we can chase points every weekend. Last year at Spa was a washout and this year, we will have our first look at the changes they have made to the track, particularly at Eau Rouge-Raidillon. Following what happened there with Anthoine, they have carried out an in-depth study and this is what they have come up with, along with further changes to some of the run-off areas and gravel traps."
Yuki Tsunoda: "I had a really nice time in the break, even though I spent a lot of it training. In the first week, I went to a training facility in Austria, also talking to a sports psychologist and working with a physio. In the middle week, I went away and just enjoyed myself and in the last week, I was back in Faenza training again, as well as doing some wakeboarding and other fun activities. So, I spent maybe 70% of the time training, but I know what works for me and I prefer not to reset completely in a break. I had a nice relaxing time, without my phone and without thinking about racing. It was good.
It will be interesting to experience the changes at Spa as I have only had a first taste of it on the simulator, although I don't think the corner layouts have changed much. It's mainly the run-off area at the top of Raidillon and some other run-offs are now gravel. Of course, I like the track a lot, especially the medium and high-speed corners. It's definitely one of the best tracks on the calendar, it's in my top five.
My approach to a race weekend won't change from the way I did it in the first half of the season, but in terms of expectations, I will have made an effort to reset my mind, going back to zero. I feel stronger and refreshed with a strong motivation for this second half of the season."