Gasly reveals alarming fan behaviour as F1 security concerns grow

Pierre Gasly has revealed his personal belongings have been tampered with and fans have stormed the AlphaTauri garage for selfies as security issues begin to overshadow the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend.

F1 personnel were targeted in the Mexican capital in the run-up to the event, while drivers are being securely driven into the circuit each day.

The paddock has been a hive of activity both on Friday and Saturday, with little room for manoeuvre for drivers and other team staff as the passionate fanbase clamours for attention and mementos.

But Gasly has suggested the behaviour of those lucky enough to have been allowed into the paddock has gone too far and has given testimony to some startling incidents that have already unfolded.

"Letting people in is fine but it is true that some guests sometimes are not respecting the space we need," explained Gasly.

"People are coming in garages before qualifying and asking for pictures when they are not even from our team. We are working here.

"Obviously, we give time to the fans when we can but this weekend, I didn't dare come out of hospitality otherwise you know you get mobbed.

"Sometimes it gets quite hectic. I arrived at hospitality [Friday] morning with my bag opened, my passport inside, and I didn't even feel it.

"We talked about it in the drivers' briefing. It is great to see kids and people enjoying it but just maybe [it is about] finding a way where they can understand when to reach us and when to give us a bit more space."

Providing further detail on his bag being tampered with, Gasly added: "My bag pocket was open. I had my passports and all my stuff in there, it is all fine, but my manager saw it was open and closed it.

"It wasn't me [who opened it] and it wasn't my manager.

"The same thing happened in Austin coming out of the paddock. We never have any security in F1 and maybe there is something we can do."

Gasly rues confusing AlphaTauri drop-off

Gasly's spirits were not helped by a poor showing for AlphaTauri in qualifying.

The Alpine-bound driver finished 14th fastest, behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, to leave him with an uphill struggle for points in the race.

"The lap was great but just since [FP3] we were off the pace," said Gasly. "We were struggling a lot and again in quali.

"We were fighting [on Friday] within a tenth [of a second] of Valtteri [Bottas] and now we are a second behind him.

"So I'm just quite confused as to where we lost all this performance."