MotoGP star star Fabio Quartararo offers hope to F1 midfield - Pierre Gasly

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MotoGP star Quartararo offers hope to F1 midfield - Gasly

Quartararo tops the MotoGP standings on a customer machine

Sam Hall

Wednesday 7 October 2020 16:01

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Pierre Gasly believes MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo offers up hope customer teams will eventually be able to fight for wins in Formula 1.

Quartararo currently races for the Petronas satellite Yamaha team but, in a scenario unimaginable in modern F1, sits atop the championship table with three wins to his name.

Part of the reason Quartararo has been able to achieve this level of success is that, unlike in F1, satellite or customer teams can purchase entire machines from a manufacturer.

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While these are often one year old, in the case of Quartararo, manufacturer Yamaha is supplying up-to-date machinery, akin to Mercedes selling one of its current cars to a customer team.

While not suggesting this is a possibility for F1, Gasly hopes the time is coming when midfield teams will be able to challenge for wins on a semi-regular basis.

"I do hope we can see something a bit similar to MotoGP where my good friend Fabio Quartararo, for example, is in a private team that can fight for championships," said Italian Grand Prix winner Gasly.

"Scoring some pole positions and winning some races, I think that will be amazing if we can see something similar in Formula 1."

Reflecting on a more realistic target for the short-term, he added: "I think AlphaTauri can be a top-10 contender on a regular basis, for sure.

"I think the team is growing and they have good ambitions. But I think we should not underestimate the knowledge all the top teams have developed over the last few years, all the facilities they have built because it’s something they have already and we don’t have.

"Even if we develop, and the cost cap we use to make it a bit more equal between everybody, I think it’s still going to take some years, it’s not a short-term project, it’s a longer one.

"I’m quite optimistic in [that] I think the team is going to get stronger relative to the others. How far is too early to say. But I will be surprised if, from 2022, we already see the top teams mixed within the midfield teams at the moment."

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