Pierre Gasly up in fourth for AlphaTauri, leading F1's chasing pack ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's Alex Albon; Gasly won September's Italian GP and has been one of the star drivers of F1 2020
Saturday 31 October 2020 16:35, UK
It may not have been anywhere near as surprising as his incredible Monza victory earlier this year, but Pierre Gasly delivered another unexpected Italy result on Saturday by qualifying his AlphaTauri in fourth for the Emilia-Romagna GP.
Fast from the outset on Saturday, the later-than-usual opening day of Imola's Formula 1 return, Gasly provided the closest challenge to Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in a car that has more often than not been the seventh-fastest on the grid this season.
"I seem to be fast in Italy!" admitted Gasly, one of the stars of the season and who is wearing an Ayrton Senna tribute helmet this weekend at Imola. "Behind the two Mercedes and Max, we can't do better than that."
It was a great day for AlphaTauri in general, with both cars in the top 10 for the first time in 2020.
But Gasly was once again their leader, and his display was also notable because it equalled his best qualifying result - also finding the second row with Red Bull last season - and because it came at the end of a week in which his AlphaTauri stay was confirmed for 2021.
Gasly was not considered for the still-vacant Red Bull seat for 2021 despite his strong form, but beat Alex Albon, their current driver and the man who replaced him with the team last season, on Saturday.
"I must say I felt fast all day long," he told Sky F1. "Practice was good, we made a few changes for qualifying and they improved the car.
"In qualy I managed to put in some strong laps, drive the way I wanted, and equal my best qualifying in Formula 1."
Gasly will start Sunday's race ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo and Albon, while he admitted he will be keeping an eye on Charles Leclerc's pace from seventh with AlphaTauri chasing Ferrari in the championship.
In Friday's press conference, Gasly expressed "surprise" he was not "truly considered" for a Red Bull return for the 2021 season.
"I'm not disappointed, I would say I'm just surprised. In 14 years [of the team] Seb (Vettel) won a race with Toro Rosso, the only other driver who won a race.
"Seb got promoted to Red Bull and won four titles with the team.
"I must say I'm just surprised I wasn't truly considered. I had two podiums with Toro Rosso, I think this season is going alright, and on my side the only thing I can do is trying to put some strong performances [together] to give me opportunities in the future."
Gasly was demoted to Red Bull's sister team last summer after just 12 disappointing races, with Albon taking his place.
