Formula 1: Pierre Gasly records much-needed 6th place qualifying effort in China

Pierre Gasly recorded a much-needed sixth place qualifying effort for the third race of the 2019 Formula 1 season, the Chinese Grand Prix, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Driving for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, one of only three teams that have won any of the 120 Formula 1 races that have been contested since the 2013 season opener, drivers are expected to qualify and finish races in the top six on a regular if not nearly automatic basis.

In each of the last three seasons, Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have finished in the top three in the constructor standings, and in each of these three seasons, these teams’ six drivers have finished in the top six in the driver standings.

However, Pierre Gasly had not lived up to this expectation coming into the 2019 season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, at Shanghai International Circuit.

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Last August, the 23-year-old Frenchman was named the replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at the Milton Keynes-based team for the 2019 season, but in his first two races driving for the team, his performances were disappointing to say the very least.

Gasly qualified all the way back in 17th place for the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, and he finished in 11th while the other five Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing drivers finished in the top five. Most notably, his teammate, Max Verstappen, finished on the podium in third.

Then for the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, Gasly qualified in 13th place and went on to finish in eighth while the other five Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing drivers, once again, finished in the top five. Verstappen finished in fourth.

As a result, even with only two of the 21 races on the 2019 schedule having been contested, Gasly already found himself on the hot seat heading in the Chinese Grand Prix.

While he did not beat Verstappen nor any of the four Mercedes or Ferrari drivers in the qualifying session for this 56-lap race around the 16-turn, 3.388-mile (5.452-kilometer) Shanghai International Circuit road course in Jiading, Shanghai, China, he finally at least lived up to expectations by recording a much-needed sixth place qualifying effort.

Gasly recorded a top lap time of 92.930 seconds (131.247 miles per hour) in the third and final round of qualifying for this race. While he finished 1.383 seconds off the pace of polesitter Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and 0.841 seconds off the pace of Verstappen in fifth place while Verstappen only finished 0.542 seconds behind Bottas, his sixth place qualifying effort proved that he is improving and should not be given up on by Red Bull Racing just yet.

Perhaps more importantly, this sixth place qualifying effort could be the shot in the arm that Gasly needs to get his confidence up moving forward so that he can start recording solid results on a regular basis like he is expected to and so that he can perhaps exceed expectations by earning podium finishes or even victories.

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Will Pierre Gasly be able to convert his season-high sixth place starting position in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix into his first top six result of the 2019 Formula 1 season? If so, in what position will he finish the season’s third race? Tune in to ESPN2’s live broadcast of the race from Shanghai International Circuit tomorrow beginning at 2:05 a.m. ET to find out.

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