Pierre Gasly has described the "struggle" in the final few laps of the Dutch Grand Prix to stay close to Sergio Perez. The Mexican was given a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which happened after he aquaplaned and hit the barrier causing front wing damage prior to the red flag. When the race restarted for a final six-lap dash to the finish, Perez was handed the penalty by the stewards while running in third on the road ahead of Gasly. The Frenchman had to stay within the five second margin to secure the podium, his first since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Gasly described the final moments when speaking to media, including RacingNews365 : "It's never easy to stay within five seconds of a Red Bull, that's for sure,” he said. "But I saw the opportunity, I knew what was on the table and yeah, just gave everything I had out there."
Gasly: I could feel what he was feeling
Gasly already received a penalty for the same offence prior in the race, which he managed to serve during one of the many pit stops midway through the race. The right strategy call to put him on Intermediates when the rain hit, enabled the Alpine driver to jump the rest of the field. "I expected to struggle a bit more with a warm-up initially, but the conditions were not too bad. So, it was pretty much a couple of qualifying laps at the end, which were really rewarding," said Gasly. "I can feel what he was feeling: I went through it a couple laps before with these five seconds penalties. So yeah, I just tried to get everything I could."
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