Pierre Gasly does think he could repeat Daniel Ricciardo’s win from P6 last year on Sunday after a better qualifying session in China.
The Frenchman made it into the top 10 for the first time this season as the difference between the top three teams and the rest was the largest it had been all year on Saturday.
Even so, his best time was still 0.8s behind his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen and he admits the problems with the RB15 are still apparent
“I think really, that was the best I could expect,” Gasly conceded to Sky Sports. “It was still a tricky weekend, so I think we are happy with the position but still not satisfied with my driving still.
“I’m still struggling with that car. So yeah, for sure, some work to do.”
Pinpointing his main problem, the 23-year-old added: “I struggle to put the power down and I fight a lot with the car. So, I know the things I need to work on.
“I’ll probably try to change a bit, my driving style, and probably with the team, working together, we can find the directions to make it a bit more suitable to myself.
“Also, I think I’m aggressive with the way I go on power. It doesn’t help with that car. It was okay last year, and I think I need to change a bit the way I drive to get the maximum from this car.”
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But as the first driver to start on the soft C4 tyres on Sunday – with the rest in front on the mediums – and having watched Ricciardo use a similar advantage to win 12 months ago, Gasly isn’t ruling anything out.
“Anything can happen on this track so we’ll keep pushing. I think I felt better in the long runs than the short runs,” he said.
“We’ll see how it goes. Push flat out and hopefully I can make this tyre last and with the things happening on track hopefully, I get out from China with maximum points.”