28/08/2022
NEWS STORY
Pierre Gasly: "It's been an amazing race, it's my 100th race today, so it's a special one. I'm really surprised with how we've finished, after having to start from the pitlane to come back home in the top 10 is pretty incredible, so we should be happy with that today. We were obviously lined up in P8 on the grid, but had an issue and had to return to the garage, luckily we got the car started, and were able to begin the race from the pitlane. The car isn't quite where we want it to be yet, we've still got some areas we need to work on, but I'm pleased we managed to be back scoring points again today."
Yuki Tsunoda: "Starting from the pitlane was always going to be tough, but I think the pace was strong today and we had a good strategy, being able to make our way forward during the race. Unfortunately, we lost quite a lot of time in the pitstops and then I got stuck in a DRS train, but I'm pretty happy with how I drove today and how the car felt. Hopefully we can maintain the performance we've found this weekend in the Netherlands, alongside a clean race weekend, and aim once again for the points."
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "Today's race has been quite eventful. Pierre's car had an issue on the grid, meaning it had to be returned to the garage and start from the pitlane alongside Yuki, who was already committed to a pitlane start. Once the race was underway, both drivers got down to the task of trying to move forward. Yuki put in some very solid stints to move towards the points, but ultimately was bottled up in the train of cars behind Albon and was not able to quite get into the points, which is disappointing as Yuki ran a good race here in Spa. With Pierre the gamble to run a shorter middle stint, and extending the last, was risky as it required a further step of tyre management, but it worked. This allowed him to escape the train behind and come home in a very solid ninth place. To be back to scoring points is very welcome, but we are still making it harder than it needs to be, so there is still plenty of topics to focus on ahead of next week's race."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Firstly, congratulations to Oracle Red Bull Racing for a fantastic 1-2 here in Spa, it was an unbelievable drive from Max.
"From our side, we managed to score some points today, which is positive, as we've not been able to do this at the last few races. Pierre drove a great race. Whilst on the starting grid, in his P8 spot, the electrical system stopped working so we had to bring his car back to the garage, where we were then able to start the PU to be able to begin the race from the pitlane. We must go away and investigate why it worked again once we returned to the garage. Of course, it was then a difficult race for Pierre, but he drove very well. He struggled with a lack of grip at the beginning of the race but during his later stint on the Mediums, he did a great job, and managed to make up multiple positions.
"Yuki also started from the pitlane today with a different strategy, with him starting on the hard tyres, he was able to do an extended stint on these, not coming in until lap 18 for the new tyre. I must say, Yuki also drove a really strong race and showed a good performance. He got stuck for some time behind Zhou but was able to overtake him on the last lap and finished in thirteenth.
"We hope now in the Netherlands to have a race weekend without any technical problems or PU changes so we can return to the performance that we had at the start of the season."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa here.