Pierre Gasly finished the Miami Sprint race P9 so confidence must have been high for race day. As it happened, Gasly would cross the line in the same position he qualified — P12. Meanwhile, his teammate Esteban Ocon went on to score the team’s first point of 2024.
The Miami Grand Prix was not without its drama for Alpine, seeing how the team’s two drivers — having started P12 and P13 — were soon locked in a wheel-to-wheel battle shortly after the lights went out as they properly went at it throughout the first lap.
“It was pretty intense, didn’t get much space through [Turns] 2 and 3,” explained Gasly about the early duel. “So, unfortunately I had to run wide there but managed to get him back after that.”
By the end of the opening lap, Gasly was indeed the driver still ahead but everything changed after Ocon and Alonso benefited from the VSC. This enabled Gasly’s teammate and the Spaniard to make quicker pit stops than in normal race conditions, and Ocon would go on to claim Alpine’s first point of 2024.
When Gasly reflected on his race – one described as ‘faultless’ by the team’s social media team – it was clear that it was painful to have come so close to scoring points.
The 2020 Italian GP winner had been running ahead of Alonso and Ocon but boxed on lap 12 as they had to cover the likes of Albon and Stroll. With their much fresher tyres after the VSC, Alonso and Ocon quickly cleared Gasly as he ended up doing a 45-lap stint on hards.
However, unsurprisingly, he did pay tribute to the job done by Ocon and the team as a whole.
“Nothing’s come my way at the moment since the start of the year. That’s the way it is.
“We’re showing we are making a lot of progress, very positive for the team to open the account and get a point out of that race.
“The whole weekend was positive. I finished 9th in the Sprint as well yesterday, we scored a point today.
“A lot of great motivation for the guys and I hope we can keep pushing in that direction. Hopefully things can start coming a bit more our way on our side of the garage,” said Gasly in the written media pen.
Gasly had also explained that the team “came into the race with two plans” to and this was explained in greater detail later on by Team Principal, Bruno Famin.
Famin revealed how the team always had a clear plan which would see one car try to pit early and undercut the cars around them while the other car would take a gamble by running a longer first stint in hope of a VSC, SC or red flag scenario.
“On this occasion this is how it unfolded and it was Esteban who scored the point in tenth place. It was a faultless race from everyone in the team – strategy, race management, pit-stops – and we did enough to put ourselves in a position for the team to benefit.
“It’s been a much more positive weekend here in Miami and we must keep striving for more if we are to keep fighting for higher positions. The hard work will continue as we eye up returning to Europe next time out.”
Gasly also reflected on the positive aspects in his post-race remarks.
“We had a great race today even if we missed out on scoring points,” said Gasly. “We did everything we had to do in order to put ourselves in the best possible position to score points.
“We had good pace, we battled hard at the start to keep position and then, as with our plan, we pitted early. The VSC timing did not go in my favour but that is the way it is sometimes.
“From a team perspective, we scored the first point of the season and that’s most important. Whether it’s me or Esteban does not matter and I’m just really pleased for the team today.
“It’s great for motivation and confidence for everyone at Enstone and Viry. We need a lot more to fight for higher positions. We are in the mix, it’s been the best weekend of the season from a performance point of view, so it’s good to show progress.”
Alpine’s A524 has continued to receive updates and looks a far cry from the car many expect to be propping up the back of the grid.
Now that Ocon and Gasly both have equal machinery, one can expect close on track battles for the coming months and season as a whole. For now Ocon has the solitary point for the team and you can be sure that Gasly will be eager to level things — if not go one better — sooner, rather than later.
