Pierre Gasly believes the closely-contested nature of Formula 1’s midfield battle lessens the blow of Toro Rosso’s lowly placing in the Constructors’ Championship.
Toro Rosso had finished seventh in each year of the hybrid era and for 2018 took on Honda power, but finished the campaign ninth, ahead only of Williams.
However, Toro Rosso twice led the midfield battle at Grands Prix – courtesy of Gasly in Bahrain and Hungary – with prospects at some events compromised by tactical engine penalties, as Honda pushed on with development.
Toro Rosso also held a comfortable buffer over tail-enders Williams, and headed to the final event of the year in Abu Dhabi within sight of Sauber and the re-born Racing Point Force India operation.
“Yes of course, it is not the target that we had at the beginning of the season,” Gasly said of ninth in the standings.
“We knew it would be difficult with Honda coming. So, we didn’t really want to have any expectations in terms of final position in the team championship.
“This season has been so close in the midfield, like from one weekend to another we could see there was not a fourth-best team by far.
“It was always mixed in that midfield, but a couple of times we managed to make the best out of the package we had, and some others we were slower than all these teams.
“We don’t finish super far [from the rest], but we are not going to finish 50 points behind all the others.
“It is super close in that midfield that in the end it is going to be a bit disappointing, but I’m not sure it reflects all the potential we had.
“If you compare to last year we managed to score more points [in 2018] than the two [Honda-powered] McLaren drivers [in 2017]. Fernando [Alonso] scored less than 20 points so…”
Gasly racked up 12 of his 29 points courtesy of his drive to fourth in Bahrain, and picked out that unexpected result as the highlight of his first full season in Formula 1.
“Bahrain was a weekend difficult to describe because it was so unexpected that it is a bit like when you get a surprise from your friend or your family, you don’t expect something it always makes you even more happy,” he said.
“Bahrain was this kind of feeling that I could not believe what was happening.
“Especially with the following races and when you look at the overall performance of the package we had, it is still difficult to understand how we managed to get that fourth place in Bahrain.
“But when things are done, we will just take that with us, and clearly the best memory of my first complete season in F1.”
Gasly will join Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019 while Toro Rosso will field returnee Daniil Kvyat and rookie Alexander Albon.
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