Gasly expresses relief after 'risk-averse' Austin reward

Alpine's Pierre Gasly has described how he bided his time in the United States Grand Prix to avoid "risks" on the "most complete weekend" of the season.

The Frenchman used a conventional two-stop strategy from his seventh place on the grid to finish eighth on the road in Austin, effectively only being overtaken by the Red Bull of Sergio Perez at the flag.

However, his haul of four points was soon doubled to eight - to take Alpine to 100 for the season - following the disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from second and sixth, respectively after the race.

It meant Gasly was only beaten by both Red Bulls, a McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes on a weekend Alpine showed a strong turn of pace having largely struggled across the season.

The one-time Grand Prix winner put his ability to be in a strong position at the end of the "complete weekend" down to being risk-averse at the start.

Gasly: I knew I had to keep my nose clean

"I knew I had to keep my nose clean, so there was no point in risking everything in the first lap," Gasly told media, including RacingNews365 before news of the double DSQ came through.

"It paid off and I managed to get the best results in both races, P7 in the Sprint and P8 in the race.

"We finished close to the Mercedes of George [Russell], but we know we are not there yet to fight with these guys.

"I must say I'm pleased with the way we've executed our weekend, I think it's probably our most complete weekend so far."

Gasly's double points haul, totalling 10, moved him into 10th place in the Drivers' on 56 points, three ahead of Lance Stroll who returned to the points with seventh for Aston Martin.