Pierre Gasly says he could see positive changes at Alpine already in April-May but it took them number of races to get it on track.
It was indeed unthinkable for Alpine to secure sixth in the F1 constructors’ championship in 2024 after the pre-season test they had. They were quite slow at the start of it and it continued on for good part. As the season progressed, they managed to score a point of two.
But they were in ninth behind the midfield pack. It was not until the Brazil weekend when they jumped from ninth to sixth after a double podium for Esteban Ocon and Gasly. They followed it by points finish from the latter, which sealed sixth place in the constructors’ championship.
The points haul helped Gasly to snatch 10th in the drivers’ championship from Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. Speaking about the progress, the Frenchman says he could see Alpine doing well from April and May itself, but it took them while to translate it on track towards the end of the year.
“Sixth in the constructors’ was unthinkable at the start of the year, the lows of the season were extremely low and the highs were extremely high,” said Gasly to media. “The first part of the season was very tough for us and the team in an underperforming car but very proud of the action of the guys.
“The way they managed to bring that much performance to give me a car in the last few races, it really allowed me to perform really strong. We are heading in the right direction, the mentality in the team is the right one. I was seeing all this positive changes already back in April and May. There was a lot of progress inside the factory.
“Obviously, it doesn’t straightaway translate directly on the track, in couple of months later we have got all this reward and yeah, sixth in the constructors’ and I think I nicked 10th in the drivers’ championship to Nico in the last race – that was the clear target.
“There were three targets: to get sixth in the constructors, tenth in the drivers, and keep my nose clean so we’re still on $0 [in] damage. And, yeah, we completed all the targets,” summed up Gasly.
Here’s Oliver Oakes on Esteban Ocon
Here’s Alpine, Esteban Ocon after Abu Dhabi Test
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