Grégoire Saucy: My Ultimate Driver

He’s looked rapid so far in 2023, but what does Grégoire Saucy think makes the ultimate racing driver?

We put it to the ART Grand Prix driver and asked him to pick out the key factors of what he would put into the best overall driver he can make up. Here is what the Swiss driver came up with.

INTELLIGENCE

“Lewis Hamilton. In every race he never really crashes and that consistency is really important.”

DRIVING IN WET WEATHER CONDITIONS

“I think Ayrton Senna. Every race I’ve seen of him watching it back, he had a different style than the others. It is nice to see.”

QUALIFYING PACE

“I want to say Hamilton again but then Max Verstappen is a good choice too. He’s fast, really, really fast, but sometimes he does some mistakes. He’s fast in Qualifying but not always. Hamilton is a bit more consistent.”

CORNERING ABILITY

“I think Charles Leclerc. When I see some of his moves, he carries a lot of speed into the corner to go around the outside of a driver. I can’t remember where it was last year but he made a great move around the outside of a double-right. It was amazing.”

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TYRE MANAGEMENT

“Sergio Perez. He takes care of the tyres very well and always has done.”

SMOOTH OR AGGRESSIVE?

“A bit of both really. You need to be aggressive, but you also have to be smart. In some parts you need to be aggressive but other times, being smooth works. In Qualifying, if you go too aggressive, you can make mistakes into the corners. A mix of both is good.”

RISK-TAKING

“Verstappen. Sometimes he makes a mistake but other times he pulls off a really aggressive pass and it works out nicely.”

OVERTAKING ABILITY

“Fernando Alonso. He has so much experience, he’s always good in the races. There’s so many overtakes of his to pick from. His move last year around the outside of Valtteri Bottas in Brazil last year was amazing.”

ANYTHING ELSE?

“I think the driver has to be smart, thinking all the time about the race and the bigger picture. If you do a restart that doesn’t go how you want, you need to stay focused and reset in your head.”