KEY POINTS

  • Pierre Gasly finished at P8 in Saudi Arabia
  • He had retired from 2022's opening race in Bahrain
  • Verstappen won the Saudi Arabain GP ahead of Leclerc

AlphaTauri F1 driver Pierre Gasly has revealed he felt he was "dying inside the car" in pain in the last 15 laps of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Gasly, who finished eighth in the Jeddah race, said he was "screaming" because of severe intestine pain, before calling the closing stages of Sunday's race the most painful last 15 laps of his career.

Following his pit stop just before the Safety Car came in, Gasly, unfortunately, fell outside the top 10. However, the French driver fought his way back through the grid to finish at P8 and claim four crucial points.

"I don't know what's happened with my intestine, but I was dying inside the car. I was screaming because of pain and just happy the race is done, and we managed to secure P8," Gasly said in a post-race interview, Crash.net reported.

"I'm really happy with how today went and glad I’m coming away with points. We got really unlucky with the safety car, as we boxed around 30 seconds before it came out and so dropped down the field, which wasn't ideal. We managed to make our way back up through to P8, so really pleased with that," Galey told AlphaTauri's website.

Gasly, who failed to finish the race in the season-opener Bahrain Grand Prix, went on to add that those last five laps were just about "surviving."

"From my side, the last 15 laps were really difficult, I had some pain in my intestine and it was really difficult to race. I'm feeling good in the car though, I'm able to push the way I want to, but I think we need to just find some more downforce. We know the areas we need to improve so we just need to go away and find the solutions now," the F1 driver added.

In another interview, Gasly confirmed he had already seen a doctor but was not sure what the cause of his discomfort was.

Pierre Gasly was the first Frenchman on an F1 podium since 2015
Pierre Gasly was the first Frenchman on an F1 podium since 2015 AFP / NELSON ALMEIDA

"I've seen him already, we'll see after. I don't know what it is. We'll see what's happened," Gasly said.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen won the race after edging out Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a long battle in Jeddah. The Red Bull driver passed Leclerc with four laps to go after a tense race.

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