Pierre Gasly believes Alpine’s performance during the Monaco Grand Prix has raised morale and altered the mindset inside the F1 team.
Esteban Ocon’s third-place finish around the streets of the Principality was the team’s first podium for 30 grands prix, and his first since his shock victory in the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Gasly would almost certainly have been in close attendance to his French compatriot but for an additional pit stop at a crucial time in the race when the rain arrived, but instead was forced to settle for seventh, 35 seconds adrift.
For the team that finished fourth in the constructors’ championship last season, however, it was a return to form following a dismal start to the campaign that sparked anger from CEO Laurent Rossi ahead of the Miami GP.
Rossi described Alpine’s performance up to that point as amateurish, and suggested team principal Otmar Szafnauer’s position was on the line if performances failed to improve.
Alpine responded in Miami where Gasly and Ocon were eighth and ninth respectively before scaling new heights in Monaco where a raft of updates paid dividends.
“Monaco was definitely a clear, big step forward, and that’s the sort of performance I want to see from the team,” said Gasly, who switched to Alpine over the winter from AlphaTauri.
“It was very well deserved for all the guys to get that podium at this point in the season.”
As to the difference it has made, he said: “I’ll say I see more smiles. Usually, from past experience. The more people smile, the more efficient they are.
“The motivation, the mindset are also different. There’s more confidence, so I must say, I’m pleased for the entire team we managed to get that result to get some weight off their shoulders.
“I don’t believe that it’s going to change anything in their approach because we are all fighting, all pushing to get everything out of the car that we have.
“There was a general feeling inside the team that we were not performing as much as we had hoped at the start of the year.
“But the fact we are seeing progression, evolution through this first six grands prix, something has clicked, which will help in terms of mindset, in terms of confidence, moving forward.”
Alpine to underscore Monaco performance in Barcelona
Alpine’s improvement has stemmed from the fact it brought a major new upgrade to its A523s for Monaco that, in particular, included a new front suspension and sidepods.
The question for Gasly and Alpine now is to prove Monaco was not a one-off.
“I can see all the effort, all the hard work that has gone into this new package, and I really hope we are able to produce a similar performance in the coming races,” said Gasly, speaking ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
“It’s super important to confirm last weekend. The performance was extremely good in Monaco. We were able to fight the Mercedes, the Ferrari, even outperform them.
“It will be important to confirm this performance on a more traditional circuit like Barcelona because we’re clearly going after Mercedes and Ferrari, so I hope we can repeat these strong performances on a more consistent basis from now on.
“There is more understanding about what’s good in the car, what’s slightly less good. I just feel, weekend after weekend, we are able to have a stronger package – more consistent, more reliable, more compliant, and more robust.”
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