Gasly aims to get rid of Monaco ‘black cat’

Plagued by bad luck in Monaco for most of his racing career, Pierre Gasly is hoping to get rid of the “black cat” this weekend.

Although the Frenchman won in Monaco back in 2014 when he was racing in Formula Renault 3.5, his more recent races have been hampered by accidents.

Despite that, Gasly says he enjoys the Monte Carlo street circuit, he just needs better luck.

“Truth is, I’ve never been particularly lucky racing at Monaco in the junior formulas,” he said. “I’ve always had a crazy time there, like there’s a black cat on my case.

“So I hope it’s going to change this year, as it’s a track I really like.

“In qualifying, it really is the most exciting place of the year, because to drive at 300 kilometres per hour, ten centimetres off the walls all the way round, while chasing performance, as you keep pushing a little bit more and a little bit more is really something.

“No errors are permitted, because if you brake one metre later, you go one metre too deep or wide and straight away, that’s you in the wall. It’s really exciting.”

However, as with most drivers, the traffic in Monaco can be a bit of headache given the lack of overtaking opportunities.

He added: “While I’ve always loved qualifying at Monaco, the races have been a bit of a pain, because it’s very difficult to overtake, so everything depends on strategy and you have to maintain full concentration all the way to the end.

“Even when you think nothing will change, someone can make a mistake in the closing stages and there could be an opportunity, so you have to be ready to take it.

“It’s a very long race and it can be a bit frustrating because overtaking a car that’s quite a bit slower than you is still not easy, if the driver in front is doing a good job of defending his position, so it’s very complicated.”