Pierre Gasly admits driver error caused his second crash of the pre-season
Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly has suffered his second crash of the pre-season, with a big accident during the penultimate day of testing in Spain.
Gasly lost control at the high-speed turn nine, hitting the barriers backwards and doing considerable damage to the rear of the car.
Replays from the onboard camera showed Gasly put his left wheel on the grass just before turning into the corner.
“I’m fine, a bit shaken. I made a mistake in Turn 9 and basically lost the car, pretty big crash, one of the biggest crashed I had so far,” he said.
“Long night for the mechanics, sorry for that, most important is we can get Max (Verstappen) in the car tomorrow. Focus on the positives - we managed to do a lot of testing and things to analyse.”
It’s the second time in as many weeks Gasly has damaged his Red Bull, not a good look as he finds his feet with his new team after replacing Daniel Ricciardo.
Pierre Gasly driving for Red Bull earlier in the pre-season. AAP
But he denies his second crash means he’s lacking confidence in the car.
“I'm feeling confident. I just made a mistake today, unfortunate,” he said.
“I went slightly wide, 10-15 cm and then lost it as I turned in.
“It was a pretty big impact, but we'll focus on all the work we've done over the four days.
“We have a lot to analyse. We have a good car that we need to make better for Melbourne.”
Ferrari once again topped the timesheets, with Charles Leclerc coming within a tenth of a second of the all-time lap record in Barcelona. Using the softest compound tyre available, Leclerc set a time of 1:16.231, more than half a second clear of his nearest competitor.
Pierre Gasly's Red Bull returns to the pits after his crash. Getty
On a day when many teams started to try low-fuel qualifying runs, Alex Albon in the Toro Rosso set the second fastest time ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Daniel Ricciardo was fifth fastest for Renault, while Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were 10th and 13th as they continued to focus on race pace.
Times
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:16.231, 138 laps
2. Alex Albon, Toro Rosso, 1:16.882, 118 laps
3. Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:17.084, 84 laps
4. Pierre Gasly, Red Bull, 1:17.091, 65 laps
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, 1:17.204, 65 laps
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:496, 73 laps
7. Lance Stroll, Racing Point, 1:17.556, 103 laps
8. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, 1:17.639, 71 laps
9. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:17.864, 16 laps
10. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:18.097, 85 laps
11. George Russell, Williams, 1:18.130, 140 laps
12. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, 1:18.199, 53 laps
13. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:18.863, 96 laps
