Pierre Gasly remains upbeat about Alpine’s prospects, confident that points will soon follow after a tough start to the 2025 season.
Alpine F1 remains the only team yet to score any points this season, which has been a disappointing start for the French squad. They’ve already fallen behind rivals like Williams and Haas in the constructors’ standings.
However, Alpine’s car isn’t the slowest on the grid. In fact, it is at least on par with Aston Martin’s performance.
Taking advantage of the two-week break between races, Pierre Gasly took the time to assess Alpine’s situation: What went wrong? Where does the team need to improve?
“I think in China, we objectively underperformed as a team,” Gasly reflected. “After the weekend, we realized there were a few things we would’ve done differently in hindsight. But that’s why I remain confident.”
“We have a solid package, and we have the performance to fight for the top 10. It’s still early in the season, and we’re still learning about the car and how to get the most out of it. The fact that we have three upcoming races on different tracks is a good thing, and I’m excited to get back into racing.”
While Alpine finished the 2024 season strong, some are questioning whether their winter developments have been enough to keep up with the competition.
“Our car has made progress, yes. But everyone else has progressed too. If you look at the entire grid, it’s extremely tight. It really comes down to fine-tuning setups for each circuit. Right now, two-tenths can make a difference of six or seven positions.”
“Unfortunately, we weren’t good enough in China, but we know why. That’s why I’m fully confident we’ll be in the fight for the next three races.”
Gasly also pointed out the fierce competition on the grid: “Honestly, it’s a very tight field. As I mentioned, two-tenths can move you from the top to the bottom of the standings. Objectively, we had a strong showing in Bahrain. In Melbourne, we made it to Q3, fighting for points – though the conditions were challenging, and the Safety Cars didn’t help us. In China, we felt we didn’t extract the full potential of the package. Still, we finished 11th, which could’ve been 9th, but the car was slightly under the minimum weight, so we didn’t score points.”
“I think we’re confident. These are just two races. We know what we need to do. We have to focus on ourselves, keep working, and execute a strong weekend, and we’ll be in the mix. It’s going to be tight all season, and we need to extract the maximum from every weekend.”
Currently, Alpine F1 is trailing behind Williams by 17 points and Haas by 14 in the constructors’ standings. Does Gasly feel any pressure over this gap?
“Not at all, because we know exactly why we haven’t scored points. Things could’ve been very different in Melbourne with that last Safety Car – we were in the points the whole race. In China, we were in the mix, and there was still performance left to exploit. So no, I’m confident we’ll score points.”
“Other teams might have had a bit more luck than us, but the season is long. We saw last year how we bounced back strongly. I believe we have a better car than last year, so I’m not too worried. Of course, it’s nice to be in a strong position from the start, but let’s remember, there are 24 races.”
Gasly also expressed empathy for Liam Lawson’s situation, who experienced a mid-season demotion from Red Bull to Toro Rosso, much like Gasly did, though in a much quicker timeframe.
“I don’t remember 2019,” Gasly smiled when asked about it.
“I obviously wish the best for Liam.”
Does Gasly have any insight into what led to Lawson’s struggles at Red Bull?
“I can, of course, relate to some aspects. I also wish the best for Yuki. It’s very hard to judge from the outside. Only Liam knows exactly what happened, all the details, and we need to respect that.”
“We’re all doing our best with the tools we have. I have no doubt both of them will do great things. But it’s not really up to me to comment, because you never really know what’s going on behind the scenes.”
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Alpine F1: Gasly Optimistic Despite Early Struggles Alpine F1: Gasly Optimistic Despite Early Struggles
