Pierre Gasly says his best lap during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix “felt like 🦋a pole position” for his Toro Rosso Formula 1 team. 

Gasly, who received praise from Red Bull boss Christian Horner in Brazil for his performances since his mid-season demotion from the senior team, made it into Q3 for the fourth race in succession and set the s♌eventh-fastest time, just 1.3s off the pace of polesitter and former teammate Max Verstappen. 

The Frenchman will be evaluated to sixth on the Interlag𝐆os grid for Sunday’s grand pr🎃ix once Charles Leclerc’s engine penalty is applied. 

“I’m really happy with how qualifying went today,” Gasly explꦬained. 

“I’d like to pass on a massive thanks to the team for giving me a c🐼🤪ompetitive car.

“It feels like pole position for us today as P7 in the midfield is the best we can expect. We knew it was going to be a tight Qualify♋ingꦏ, so it feels great to get my fourth Q3 in a row.

“I felt good in the car all weekend, now we need to stay focussed for the race and finish the jo♒b by scoring as many points as possible.”

It was a strong day for Honda with three of its four-powered cars making it into the top 10. Gasly's Toro Rosso teammate Daniil Kv🧸yat was t🎃he odd one out after a scruffy run in Q2 saw him eliminated in 16th. 

“It’s just a shame,” Kvyat said. “I w🥂as feeling really good in the car during FP3 this morning and I was positive going into qualifying. 

“Then in the afternoon, the car wasn’t in the right balance window anymo🌞re. 

“On the second run I maꦗde a couple of mistakes which didn’t allow me to improve on my time, I’m not sure what happened, but I lost the rhythm and I couldn’t put everything together.

“However, my race pace is generally strong, and e♚ven if P16 isn’t ideal but let’s see what we can do in the 🃏race.”