"What's the deal with them today, jet lag?" An irate Pierre Gasly befuddled by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri's on-track antics
Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly was miffed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri during the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix's FP2 session. The French driver is currently riding on a high from his P3 finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix last time around which helped the Enstone-based outfit to jump to P6 in the constructor's championship
Heading into the FP2 session, Gasly was caught by the McLaren of Piastri during his fast lap leaving him frustrated. The Aussie driver struggled to match the pace of his teammate Lando Norris throughout Friday and looked to use as much track as possible.
Gasly made a sarcastic jibe at Piastri for blocking him during the FP2 session and said:
"Yeah. Thank you very much... Honestly, they can't open their eyes. What's the deal with them today, jet lag?"
The 28-year-old eventually finished the session in P6 ahead of Piastri, who was down in P8 behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. The 2020 Italian GP winner looked like the quicker of the two Alpines on Friday as Esteban Ocon could only manage P12 and was around four-tenths slower than his compatriot.
Pierre Gasly gives his views on being the cleanest driver in the 2024 season
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly stated that he was happy to be the cleanest driver in the 2024 season as he emphasized the importance of saving money in the budget gap era.
As per RacingNews365, the five-time podium sitter is the only driver on the grid who has not cost his team in terms of damages to the car. The French driver reflected on the stat and said:
"It makes it easier to insure my car back at home. But no, I mean it is a great stat at the end of the day, but it is also very, very important for the team because the money is something that goes into the budget cap, so it plays a factor in the development throughout the year and what it offers the team in terms of money available.
So obviously, we will try to keep it that way until the end of the season, but you go into every race trying to fight at the limit. Most of the year, I was in the middle of the pack, so I'm not sure how I managed to keep it clean, but you've got to look at if it is coming from a driver mistake and error or if it is just a racing incident."
Gasly scored 26 points in the 2024 season and is just two points behind his former teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the standings with three races and one Sprint remaining.