It was a year of two halves for Pierre Gasly, who disappointed at Red Bull but shone on his Toro Rosso return. Here are all the facts and statistics from Gasly’s 2019 season.
Pierre Gasly’s Q1 exit in Australia, the result of a miscalculation by Red Bull, set the mood for his stint at the team. Unable to compete with Max Verstappen and with a sense that the pressure was getting to him, Gasly was replaced by Alex Albon for the second half of the 2019 season, and moved back to Toro Rosso.
His Red Bull stint was not all bad – he finished in the top six four times, equalling his career-best result (up to that point) with fourth at the British Grand Prix – but he re-found his form when he moved back to Toro Rosso. Despite having to readjust to the team’s machinery, it did not take Gasly long to regularly out-perform Daniil Kvyat. He scored in nine of the eleven races since his return to the team. The season culminated in an unexpected podium finish in Brazil, as he fought to the line with Lewis Hamilton for second place.
If he can continue to out-perform Kvyat, Gasly’s seat at Toro Rosso looks safe for the foreseeable future – he could even find himself back at the big team before too long.
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RACE STATISTICS
- Championship Position: 7
- Total Points: 95
- % of teams’ points scored: 33%*
- Points Scoring Races: 14
- Best finish: 2nd (Brazil)
- Number of DNFs: 2
- Laps Led: 0
- Laps Complete: 1234 (3rd)
- % of Laps Complete: 97.78%
- Distance Covered: 6229.868km
- Races gained positions in: 12
- Races lost positions in: 4
- Finished where started: 3
- Total positions gained on first laps: -1
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QUALIFYING STATISTICS
- Q3 Appearances: 13
- Q2 Exits: 6
- Q1 Exits: 2
- Best Qualifying Position: 4th (Germany)
- Worst Qualifying Position: 17th (Australia)
- Average Qualifying Position: 9.66
- Average Grid Position: 10
- Average Gap to own potential qualifying pace: 0.102
- Achieved own ultimate pace: 4
- Beat team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: 21 / 60
- Average gap to team-mate per sector in qualifying: +0.053
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*Includes Gasly’s stints at both Toro Rosso and Red Bull
A STATISTIC FROM EVERY GRAND PRIX
Australia: Pierre Gasly finished outside of the points on his Red Bull debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. The Frenchman is in good company in failing to score on his first appearance with Red Bull. Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat all also failed to score in their first race with the team.
Bahrain: Pierre Gasly’s eighth place finish meant that the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix was the 500th F1 race in which a French driver has scored a point. Gasly gained the most places of any driver in the race, having started thirteenth.
China: After finishing sixth and picking up a point for fastest lap, Pierre Gasly scored 9 points in F1’s 1,000th race. The last time a driver scored 9 points at a Grand Prix was Nelson Piquet, as a result of winning the 1990 Australian Grand Prix – which was the 500th race.
Azerbaijan: After his Q2 elimination at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly became the first Red Bull driver to fail to reach the top ten in qualifying at the Baku City Circuit. The previous worst qualifying position for a Red Bull driver at the track was tenth on the grid, which Daniel Ricciardo recorded in 2017.
Spain: Pierre Gasly was beaten in qualifying for the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix by team-mate Max Verstappen by 0.351 seconds. At that point in the season, he was one of three drivers yet to win a qualifying battle against their team-mate in 2019, the others being Lance Stroll and Robert Kubica.
Monaco: With fifth in the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly became one of 91 drivers to have scored points at the Monaco Grand Prix at least twice. Daniil Kvyat also joined that list in 2019.
Canada: At the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly recorded his best qualifying position of the season up to that point with fifth on the grid. He qualified ahead of his team-mate, who was eliminated in Q2. He continued to be beaten by his team-mate in every race in 2019, however.
France: Pierre Gasly finished tenth in the final classification of the 2019 French Grand Prix following a penalty for Daniel Ricciardo. It marked the first time that the Frenchman scored in four consecutive races during his F1 career.
Austria: Pierre Gasly was lapped by his race-winning team-mate in the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix. It was the fourth time in 2019 that the Frenchman has completed one less lap in a race which both Red Bull drivers have finished.
Britain: With fourth place at the 2019 British Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly equalled what was his best ever result up to that point in his career. He had also finished fourth for Toro Rosso at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix. It marked the first time in 2019 that the Frenchman has finished ahead of his team-mate.
Germany: Pierre Gasly recorded the best qualifying result of his career with fourth on the grid at the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Hungary: For a second consecutive year, Pierre Gasly finished sixth at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Hungaroring is the first circuit at which Gasly has scored a repeat result in his F1 career. This also marked his final appearance with Red Bull.
Belgium: Pierre Gasly returned to Toro Rosso ahead of the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, making him one of three to drive for Toro Rosso after having driven for Red Bull. The other drivers to have done so are Vitantonio Liuzzi (raced at Red Bull in 2005, before moving to Toro Rosso for 2006) and Daniil Kvyat (raced at Red Bull in 2015, before being demoted to Toro Rosso during the 2016 season.)
Italy: With Pierre Gasly finishing eleventh in the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, it was the sixth consecutive season where Toro Rosso have failed to score at the circuit. The Frenchman has not yet scored at Monza.
Singapore: With eighth place, Pierre Gasly scored at the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his career.
Russia: After retiring in the opening stages in 2018, Pierre Gasly finished the Russian Grand Prix for the first time in 2019. He failed to score any points however.
Japan: With Pierre Gasly finishing eighth for Toro Rosso, 2019 was the first Japanese Grand Prix in which two Honda-powered cars have scored since 2004. He scored Toro Rosso’s first points at the circuit since 2015 and he reached Q3 for the first time since re-joining Toro Rosso. It marked the first time he’s qualified in the top ten with Toro Rosso since the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix and also marked the team’s fourth Q3 appearance at the Suzuka circuit.
Mexico: With tenth place in qualifying for the 2019 Mexico Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly reached Q3 for the first time at the circuit. He went on to finish ninth in the race, scoring his best result so far at the track.
United States: Pierre Gasly reached Q3 at the United States Grand Prix for the first time in 2019, but was unable to convert that into points. He lost six places in the race and finished only sixteenth.
Brazil: Pierre Gasly recorded the first podium finish of his career by finishing second at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. He became the 210th different podium finisher in Formula 1 history and the first French driver to finish on the podium since Romain Grosjean at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. Gasly became the first French driver to finish on the podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix since Oliver Panis in 1997 and the youngest French driver to finish on the podium. The previous youngest Frenchman on the podium was Jean Alesi at the 1990 United States Grand Prix.
Abu Dhabi: Pierre Gasly remains yet to score at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His best finishing position at the track is only sixteenth, and he was unable to beat that in 2019, coming home in eighteenth.
