Gasly reflects on keeping 'pretty big Mercedes' behind him

Pierre Gasly had to put in a defensive masterclass for the entirety of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as he soaked up the pressure of a relentless Lewis Hamilton attack throughout.

Having started the race from 17th after a clash with Zhou Guanyu in the Sprint on Saturday, Gasly worked his way up to 12th but wasn't able to make any further progress as he got stuck behind the Williams of Alex Albon.

Once DRS was activated, very little changed, with Gasly keeping up his attack on Albon while dragging Hamilton along with him.

"It was pretty much the entire race with a pretty big Mercedes in my mirrors and [being] pretty big [in the mirrors] of Alex in front," Gasly said after the race.

"I tried everything but, even with the DRS, we were not able to catch that Williams.

"So, [it was] quite frustrating. But we know, when we start from the back, it's always difficult."

Gasly: Traffic ruined our weekend

With AlphaTauri bring some small updates along for the Emilia Romagna weekend, Gasly was disappointed not to have been able to capitalise to score any points at the team's home race.

But the French driver took solace in the fact that the car appeared to be quick when it wasn't stuck in traffic.

"I mean, every time we're alone on track, we were competitive, but I think we had only two laps alone between yesterday and today," he pointed out.

"We were always in the traffic and, at this track, it's extremely hard to overtake, and today we paid the price."