Pierre Gasly has called for Alpine to cut out its “mistakes”, having been stuck with “problems on top of problems” in the lead-up to Formula 1’s summer break.
The Enstone-and-Viry outfit endured a nightmare start to the season with its car way off the pace of the rest of the pecking order and, despite improvements allowing Gasly to finally score points in the eighth race of the campaign in Monaco, Alpine remains just eighth in the constructors’ standings.
Gasly added another three top 10s to his name after breaking his duck, only for a did-not-start at Silverstone to halt his form as a gearbox problem struck on the formation lap, while a hydraulics issue saw him retire from the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Whilst finishing the final race before the break in Belgium, Gasly was left struggling to fight for points given a lack of speed in a straightline, hampered by another issue.
“It was absolutely terrible down the straights,” Gasly lamented. “It was supposed to be a couple of kph and I ended up losing seven tenths every lap with some engine temperature issue.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
“It was just very frustrating, I just keep having problems on top of problems the last three weekends. The steering was bent through the race, we picked up the wrong strategies, and we just made way too many mistakes as a team.
“It’s been a tough start to the season. We scored 10 points in the first part of the year. We must do a lot better in the second part of the year.”
Alpine’s F1 exploits haven’t been helped by major instability in its management and technical teams in recent years, and over the Belgian GP weekend, team principal Bruno Famin announced he would step down from his role ahead of the championship’s return at the end of August.
That move comes just a year on from his assumption of Otmar Szafnauer’s position, with the team now having gone through five bosses since returning to the grid as Renault in 2016.
On the impact the change will make, Gasly explained: “I think the goals are clear as a team.
“There have been some changes and a lot of talks and we’ll be able to access them at home. I want to thank Bruno for his work and the transparency and honesty he’s had for the time we’ve had together.
“It doesn’t change the entire team.”
