Pierre Gasly eyes home comforts

Pierre Gasly is eyeing a big performance on Red Bull’s home track at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old finished a disappointing 10th in last Sunday’s French Grand Prix and has yet to pull up any trees in 2019.

He achieved his best result in Monaco, securing a fifth-place finish on the street circuit and sits sixth in the drivers’ standings with 37 points to his name. However it has generally been a below-par campaign, with team-mate Max Verstappen fourth in the table on 100 points.

Verstappen took the chequered flag at Red Bull’s home track in 2018 and Gasly is hoping for more of the same this time around. “As a Red Bull driver, racing at the Austrian GP is something really special and I’m looking forward to seeing all the fans over the weekend,” he said.

“The track has been quite good for Red Bull in the past and we’re ready to push for the best result we can.”

Mercedes are expected to dominate proceedings once again, with Lewis Hamilton 1.10 to win the title and team-mate Valtteri Bottas available at 7.00.

Gasly, who has not challenged for a podium finish this season, is expected to finish down among the also-rans but the Frenchman hinted that his team have a few plans up their sleeve to try and squeeze some more pace out of his car this weekend.

“I’m not going to go into details and everything, but we’re all working and developing to make sure we extract the full potential,” he added.