Pierre Gasly expresses doubts about Alpine F1’s current performance, focusing on intense preparation for upcoming challenges.
Pierre Gasly is uncertain about Alpine F1’s standing relative to the competition, as the Bahrain tests appeared challenging. Yet, the team is set to ramp up efforts in the coming days to fine-tune the A524’s performance.
“To be honest, I haven’t really focused on the others because we’ve had a lot going on our end,” Gasly told Sky TV. “I don’t think we look in shape. But at the same time, we still have a few days to fully understand everything we’ve done.”
“We’ve turned the car inside out, conducted numerous tests, and hope that the analysis and findings will bring us more performance. And then, it will be known, nobody will hide it anymore by next Friday.”
“However, I think we need to be patient, even though it’s not what we like as drivers, but it’s clear it might take some time before we truly unlock the performance we expect from this car.”
While frustration hasn’t set in yet, Gasly sends a clear message to Alpine via RTBF: “For the future, I’m not worried, I want to see a project that will give me the maximum chance of achieving my goals. I want to do well at Alpine, I feel good, I’m well integrated, and it’s a great team.”
“Then again, we need to perform, I’m 28, I’ve been in F1 for seven years, I work every day to be the best, as does everyone around me at Enstone and Viry, and I hope it works out. I’m at the end of my contract, there are discussions, but we’ll see how things evolve in the first few races.”
“Allowing ourselves time to understand the car”
Like all members of Alpine, Gasly admits the start of the season will be tough for the team: “The first race won’t be easy. We’re not starting from where we would have liked. But at the same time, we need to allow ourselves time to understand the new car concept we have.”
“The good thing is that we’ve very clearly identified what we need to work on as a team. The future will tell if we’re able to address it with the car’s setup or not, for the first few races of the season, but it’s certain there will be an aggressive plan of improvements needed to bridge the gap.”
Alpine’s work has been useful for setting a development direction in the coming weeks: “The situation has been very clear with Esteban, we had very similar reactions right away.”
“And yes, it’s about analyzing if we can solve these issues with the settings before next week, or if we need more significant improvements to counter these few problems we can already identify.
“So yes, there’s a lot of work. But it’s only three days of testing, it went by quickly. We’ll try to get the car in the best possible condition for next week.”
Gasly’s Uncertainty and Alpine’s Intense Prep for F1. Gasly’s Uncertainty and Alpine’s Intense Prep for F1
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