Pierre Gasly names the only driver who can challenge Hamilton and rest of the top six

Pierre Gasly has named Valterri Bottas as the only driver capable of challenging Lewis Hamilton and the rest of the top six this season. The Finnish driver has enjoyed an eye-catching campaign for traditional strugglers Alfa Romeo since his move from Mercedes.

The new regulations brought in for this season were supposed to encourage closer competition throughout the grid. While the midfield has become more competitive the situation has not been replicated at the front with Red Bull, Ferrari and, to an extent, Mercedes building up a gap to the rest of the field.

As a result the Alpha Tauri driver has suffered a difficult season in comparison to impressive campaigns in 2020 and 2021. The Frenchman sits 14th in the Drivers' Championship with just six points. In contrast, Bottas has been impressive for new team Alfa Romeo, picking up 40 points and sitting 8th in the standings, just 10 points behind former team-mate Hamilton.

"This year, there is no way to challenge," Gasly told Autosport. "It's clearly a big step. Only Valtteri Bottas can challenge at times. We're literally fighting for seventh, which is a bit sad, because clearly the target was to close up.

"I think if you look from fourth-fastest to probably the last actually, I think we all bunched up quite a lot, but the top three is a different world."

The past two seasons were characterised by closer racing at the front with those in the midfield able to compete for race wins. Gasly was one of the major beneficiaries of this change as he was able to claim victory in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix and then sealed a third-place finish in the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Other drivers like Esteban Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez also claimed unexpected wins.

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