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Pierre Gasly hailed his top-three finish in the Belgian sprint as “definitely meaningful” and a hoped-for turning point following what has been a torrid year for Alpine.
Following back-to-back DNFs in the last two races, Alpine announced on Friday it would be parting company with team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane after this weekend’s race at Spa-Francorchamps, whilst chief technical officer Pat Fry is also leaving to join Williams.
Throw in a wretched Australian Grand Prix in which Gasly and team-mate Esteban Ocon wiped each other out, and additional behind-the-scenes upheaval in which there has been other management changes, Alpine is a team in turmoil at present.
Gasly was at least able to provide some relief in finishing behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in his McLaren in a sprint reduced to 11 racing laps due to the conditions after a torrential downpour that delayed the start by 30 minutes.
“The last few races have been pretty unsuccessful and (we have been) involved in all sorts of incidents, so a bit of bad luck there,” assessed Gasly. “So it means quite a lot to be able to put together a strong quali (shootout) and a strong race.
“We know in terms of performance it hasn’t been as good as we would have liked since the start of the year.
“In these conditions, everything can happen and you need to play with the cards that you have.
“We definitely made the right choice in boxing on lap one (changing from full wets to inters). From there, it was a bit of survival mode, with first Sergio (Perez) in the mirrors and then after Lewis (Hamilton) for a couple of laps.
“But we managed to hold him off until the end and so I’m really, really pleased to finish in the top three, and I’m really, really pleased for the guys, for the mood inside the garage, everyone who’s been working since the start of the year.
“It’s been a tough season, really unlucky so far, and to kind of have these turning points here in Spa, with obviously the history and the incidents that have happened in the past year for me, it’s definitely meaningful. So really, really happy to get it here.”
Gasly joined Alpine over the winter from AlphaTauri, with Szafnauer turning to the Frenchman following the contractual mistake made with reserve Piastri who joined McLaren rather than replacing Fernando Alonso at the French marque.
Szafnauer is now leaving, whilst the man who brought him in Laurent Rossi was only recently moved out of his position as CEO of the F1 team and into a nondescript position elsewhere within Alpine.
Recognising it “tricky” to comment on the management changes, particularly as those behind his move have left, he said: “It’s been quite a, let’s say, busy last few weeks for the team.
“I obviously just joined at the start of the year, and it’s quite a big step when you come inside a new team and need to work with new people.
“I must say from Laurent to Otmar to Alan, even Pat, who I could see at the factory, they work in the best way possible.
“It was quite unfortunate that this season, at the minute, it hasn’t worked out as well as we expected, and we’re not making the progress we would like.
“For sure, it’s been kind of tough with all these changes happening. It’s quite a lot at the minute. At the moment, I can only thank all these guys: Laurent, Otmar, Alan, and Pat, for what they’ve done in the first six months, and I wish them the best for the future.”
