Pierre Gasly expects to start his second season at Alpine in better shape after the progress he made last year.
“I know pretty much every single person in that room and every single people in the building behind you,” Gasly told media including RaceFans at the launch of the team’s new F1 car this week.He arrived at the team 12 months ago from AlphaTauri (now RB). “Last year, coming into a new team, it’s a much bigger task that what it seems like from the outside,” he explained.
“You’ve just got to understand the dynamic of the team and the organisations and the processes, the way of working, the way of communicating. Everything just drains you slightly more, it takes a bit more energy out of you. You’ve got to double-check everything.”
Having had a year to get up to speed at Alpine, Gasly says he’s “in a much better place” now. “I know all of that. I don’t need to worry about any of this and really focus on myself as an athlete, as a driver, really being fully focused on the physical side of things, working with the guys and figuring out this long season. I’m feeling really in good shape and in a great place for the team.”
Gasly out-scored his team mate Esteban Ocon by four points last year and took a podium finish in the Dutch Grand Prix. “I think we definitely made a step in the second part of the year,” he reflected, “just from the the way we’re working, understanding with the technical stuff.
“That’s why I say I’m in a much better place because that time last year the team had no clue about what I need in terms of driving style, in terms of processes, in terms of communication. I really felt like we made a big step forward on that side of things.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“We were in a great place at the end of the year. I think we’re in an even better place now 12 months later. And that’s why I’m looking forward and feeling much more confident in that second year with the team.”
However as the team’s latest design is a significant departure from last year’s, Gasly said there has been little opportunity for the drivers to give input in how to make it suit their needs better.
“It was a completely new concept so we didn’t have much impact,” he said. “With Esteban obviously there’s constant feedback about what we want, what we need in the car to go faster. But based on last year’s car, this year is a completely different concept.
“They kind of get an idea of what car behaviour we want, but when you start from scratch like that, there’s so much unknown.
“I think it will basically come into play once we test the car in Bahrain and tell them what we need, what are the weaknesses what are the strengths of that car and what they’ve got to work on.”
Bringing the F1 news from the source
RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters.
By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing.
We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 1
- Pictures: Red Bull’s aggressive new sidepod design revealed in detail at test
- Pictures: New views of Mercedes W15 running in Bahrain test
- Pictures: 2024 F1 pre-season testing day one: Bahrain
- Pictures: Haas VF-24 officially presented as testing begins in Bahrain
- Driver line-up confirmed for sole pre-season F1 test
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
10th February 2024, 19:50
Alonso feels in a much better place too. Aston Martin.
Zann (@zann)
10th February 2024, 20:24
This all makes sense. It’s strangely hard to know what to think when two drivers are similar, but is he wondering about Mercedes?