Pierre Gasly expects the the current generation of Formula 1 cars to be a "big challenge for everyone" at this United States Grand Prix. Since their introduction at the start of 2022, the drivers have complained about the stiffness of the cars particularly on bumpy circuits. While the Circuit of the Americas was resurfaced earlier this year for the MotoGP race, Gasly still expects it to be "complicated" for drivers. "I enjoy the circuit itself: the whole first sector is hyper quick with a real rhythm to it," said Gasly. "You need to be very precise with your lines because the way you take one corner then affects how you go through the next one. In general therefore, it’s a technical track. "The track has always been very bumpy, and I think with this generation of car, it’s going to be very complicated in terms of ride. "This year’s cars are very stiff and so it’s going to be a big challenge for everyone, although I understand they resurfaced some sections earlier this year in time for the MotoGP race there, so let’s hope it’s an improvement.”
Tsunoda: Changing car to suit bumps "not the way you want to go" for performance
Teams will have an extra 30 minutes of track time in FP2 as part of the Pirelli tyre test, which had to be postponed in Suzuka due to the rain. Gasly's teammate Yuki Tsunonda thinks the extra track time will help in preparation, but believes changing the car setup to suit the bumps will ultimately hinder performance. "Hopefully we will have the Pirelli tyre test in FP2 that we were not able to run in the rain in Suzuka and that’s useful as it means we get an extra 30 minutes of track time to prepare," said Tsunoda. "The track is quite bumpy and if I remember correctly from last year, especially so in Sector 1 so it will be interesting to see how these new cars will behave there." "Changing the car set-up to make it better over the bumps is not the way you want to go for performance, especially in the high speed corners, so we will need to find something in between."
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