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Pierre Gasly has shed light on the incident that brought his participation in the second free practice session for the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix to an early end.
The Frenchman lost control of the rear of his Alpine car in the second part of the Fagnes chicane, sending him into the gravel trap on the exit of the corner. Despite his efforts to regain control, Gasly was unable to prevent the rear of the car from impacting the protective barrier. The damage was significant, with the rear wing and right-rear tire detaching from the chassis.
"I just need to work to understand what happened in FP2. I had a big snap and lost the car," he stated.
"Yeah, it was a massive snap and it took me a lot longer to recover, and by the time I did, I was already off track and couldn't get it back. It's not the end of the day we wanted, but I'm sure the guys will put everything back together for tomorrow and we'll focus on trying to get into the top 10."
Gasly finished the day in 18th position, 11 places behind his teammate Franco Colapinto.
Steve Nielsen, Alpine F1's Sporting Director, also commented on the incident: "I think he had a slight snap. I think it was at Turn 14, which unfortunately put him onto the curb and from there into the barrier."
"It was a small mistake that on many other tracks wouldn't have had consequences, but at this track in certain places, you get punished for it, and that's exactly what happened. But these things happen."
Despite trailing Colapinto in the second session, Gasly remained optimistic about his chances for the remainder of the weekend.
"Overall, we did quite a lot of work in FP1 and FP2, trying many different directions with both cars," he said.
"Now we just need to assess what's good, what are the best of all these settings, and try to combine them for tomorrow. But overall, it was a productive day."
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