F1 News: Pierre Gasly Hits Rock Bottom At Alpine - "Such A Lack Of Performance"
Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly has expressed dissatisfaction with the overall setup of his A523 during the Italian GP for a drastic drop in performance. It got so bad that the only option left with the team was to gamble on strategy.
The team was aware in advance that they were about to struggle on the low downforce track, known to deliver high top-end speed racing. However, the slight glimmer of hope was shattered when Gasly and teammate Esteban Ocon couldn't get past Q1.
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With Ocon getting a DNF due to a steering issue, Gasly finished 15th at Monza. Utterly disappointed with what unfolded, he said:
"It’s been super-painful. I don’t think we have ever had such a lack of competitiveness compared to our rivals.
"We knew straight away from the start of the season that [Monza] will be a painful one, but it was clearly very difficult out there. We saw it yesterday, we knew there will not be any magic overnight, but it’s just pretty painful from inside the cockpit.”
If they didn't carry enough pace, what else could the team do? Alpine decided to gamble on strategy by pitting Gasly's car twice, hoping for chances of a safety car coming along to increase their chances of climbing up. Ocon, meanwhile, decided to pit once but retired eventually. Gasly added:
"We thought we’d try something different on both cars and if a Safety Car comes in at any moment then me and Esteban will benefit from it, or I would benefit from one at a later point, but when you’re lacking so much performance like that, you’ve just got to gamble.
"Unfortunately, it’s no secret when you’re competitive it ends up really well, when you’re not competitive it’s much harder.”
The race at Monza was a stark contrast to the previous weekend at Zandvoort where the French racing driver won his first podium with Alpine. Fast forward to the last few laps of the Italian Grand Prix and you see Max Verstappen closing in to lap Gasly. Luckily, the chequered flag was brought out before that happened.
Addressing the problem, Gasly added that it isn't just to do with the car's power unit but with that package as a whole that caused the embarrassment last weekend. He urged that the drop in performance must be understood properly to prepare for the next season. He said:
“We always knew it was going to be difficult, but I think the most important really is to understand and quantify where that drop of performance is coming from and come back next year with a stronger package.
"I’m going past Carlos [Sainz, Ferrari] last week on track, same tyres on pure pace and this week he’s standing on the podium and I’m almost a lap down.
"We knew it’s a very power-sensitive track, but it’s the whole package which has got to be better for this track.”
