Pierre Gasly Says He Expects Nightmares of F1 Rival Daniel Ricciardo

Pierre Gasly found himself stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo for a significant portion of Formula One’s Italian Grand Prix, later saying he’ll have “nightmares” of the McLaren MCL36 rear wing. 

The AlphaTauri driver soon found relief but only one Ricciardo had to retire due to an engine issue in the closing laps, triggering a safety care period under which the grand prix ended. 

“Not going to lie, I think I’m probably going to have nightmares of Daniel’s rear wing over the next couple of days because I spent so, so, so, so much time right behind him,” the Frenchman joked to F1TV. He went on to add, “It was actually a race against myself because I was getting so mad inside the helmet. I was fuming. I tried as hard as I could. And yeah, I was trying to put pressure for him to make a mistake.

“Never happened, he did a really, really clean race on his side. We tried, and at least I know we gave it everything. We tried everything, and we scored some good points, which always feels good.”

Gasly, who was not at the track on Thursday due to not feeling well, managed to record his second points finish in eight races. He said, per formula1.com, that Sunday was the best he felt last week. However, “And now I need about three days in a row, sleeping and resting and finishing all the antibiotics and all the treatment I’ve got to go through, and I’ll come in good shape to Singapore.” 

Formula One has a lengthy break before Singapore after the Russian Grand Prix was canceled. The Singapore Grand Prix is on Sunday, Oct. 2.