Pierre Gasly couldn't wipe the smile from his face after a late charge saw him finish seventh in Sunday's British Grand Prix.
The AlphaTauri driver has been on the fringes of a strong result all season but his car hasn't quite been able to keep pace with the upper midfield pack.
In the closing laps at Silverstone, however, Gasly made up four places, two as a result of punctures for Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz, to match his best result of the season so far.
“It’s really fantastic for us to finish P7 today!” he declared with a beaming smile. “It was a very strong race and probably one of the best ones from me.
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“We didn’t expect such a result today, we knew we could potentially score points, but it was going to be a challenge as the timing of the first safety car didn’t play into our hands.
“I think we were P12 at the time and I had to fight my way through the crowd. It was tough but very enjoyable and I had many great battles with [Sebastian] Vettel, [Lance] Stroll and [Antonio] Giovinazzi.”
Gasly was also able to finish ahead of Alex Albon, who replaced him at Red Bull midway through last year, but the main highlight was a brilliant move on Vettel around the outside of Stowe, which he then completed into the Vale chicane.
LAP 39/52
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2020
Superb move from Gasly as he passes Vettel to take P10 and move into the points!#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/5k7GnWPbCh
“I struggled to get close to Sebastian,” he explained. “But then I had one shot to pass him and I knew I had to try and make it work.
“It doesn’t happen every day that you’re able to overtake a Ferrari on the outside, so I really enjoyed that one!
“I’m feeling good in the car and we know where we need to improve, so hopefully we can take another step forward in the coming weeks.”
