Gasly ‘couldn’t have hoped for better’ after matching best F1 qualifying result

Gasly continued his run of strong qualifying performances in Baku, with the AlphaTauri driver qualifying inside the top ten at every race in 2021.

The Frenchman looked like he could threaten Charles Leclerc for pole but lost out in the final sector of the lap, forcing Gasly to settle for fourth on the grid.

"It's been a fantastic day I must say,” Gasly told Sky Sports F1. "I couldn’t have hoped for anything better. First in FP3, fourth in qualifying fighting for pole with the Ferrari and Mercedes and Red Bull which is something that has never really happened to us.

"All weekend we have been surprisingly strong. I felt super good in the car and managed to push it to the limit. Happy! Didn't miss much to jump Max [Verstappen] and be in the top three P3. At the end of the day, we delivered a strong qualifying, especially considering we focused a bit more on the race.

"We kept two sets of hard tyres for the race which gave us only four sets of softs for quail compared to the others. I think we are in a good position and I am excited for tomorrow.”

After enduring a dip in form in the run of races prior to Monaco, AlphaTauri has returned to form in Monte Carlo and Baku - both grands prix taking place on street circuits.

Gasly says the team needs to understand why it has returned to form with F1 heading to more traditional layouts later this month.

"I think we clearly need to analyse everything,” Gasly added. "Monaco, we were pretty strong, again another street track and the car is set up in a different way to a normal track so there’s maybe things that we can learn. P4, we equal our best quali with the team and we have good cards to play for tomorrow.”