Pierre Gasly was well and done to get a P9 for the race but he had his entire plans changed by a team message. According to the Alpine Formula 1 team, it was planned before the race that whichever driver undercuts another, will be giving the place back to the said driver. And that was the case for Pierre Gasly too. Esteban Ocon saw some damage to his car which had Pierre Gasly take Alpine’s fate into his own hands.
However, when Ocon was back on the tracks, he undercut Pierre. This caused the drivers to swap positions with Pierre Gasly ahead of Esteban Ocon. However, Ocon was told if Gasly could not catch on to Fernando Alonso, Ocon would have his spot back. But Pierre Gasly was never informed about this plan. And so the race for the best man to win at Alpine began, with Gasly absolutely clueless.
oh he is legit throwing tantrums in that car 😬 pic.twitter.com/4KfioomLYm
— lor (@lercsainzz) September 24, 2023
The French driver pushed on harder and faster with some fresh rubber on. Until the last lap of the race, he was seen giving his all to catch on to Alonso. But when he was unable to do so, Ocon was swapped with Pierre Gasly in the last lap. The French driver who was only inches away from getting a P9 and finishing across the checkered flag had his position taken by his teammate. This caused some tension between him and the race engineer on the radio.
The radio message between Pierre Gasly and his team that left him throwing a tantrum
Pierre Gasly was ahead of Esteban Ocon for most of the race. he showed great pace and was moving quickly with some fresh tires. However, the sudden team order asking him to give back Ocon’s P9 position at the very last minute left everyone surprised. Many teams tried this strategy by switching teammates. For Mercedes, it played out horribly. And it seems it was the same for Alpine too.
When Pierre Gasly was asked to give the spot back, he was heard arguing with the engineer. He tried to reason he was faster but it went in vain when “Yeah we’ll discuss this in the office. Swap around please” followed on the radio. Gasly managed to argue for quite a while. He said, “Are you serious!? Are you being serious? I started in front. I was in front the whole race and you let him undercut me.” But again no use.
GAS:”Are you serious!? Are you being serious? I started in front. I was in front the whole race and you let him under cut me.”
Eng:”Please Pierre”
GAS:”I’m doing it”
After a few more corners Gasly eventually gives the place to Ocon. #JapaneseGP #F1— F1 Madness 🏁 (@F1_Madness) September 24, 2023
Eventually, Gasly gave in. After a few corners, Gasly let Ocon pass but seemed clearly frustrated on camera. He could be seen waving his hands in anger clearly throwing a fit. Although it seemed by the end of it, he understood what his team was doing. He cleared the air saying, “Thank you for that at the end. it was a good team effort.” The end was not the best for Gasly, but he still holds more points for the team than Ocon.
