Alpine driver Pierre Gasly is confident that the team can maintain the momentum it picked up in the second half of the 2023 season.
Speaking at the launch event in Enstone, Gasly—who is entering his sophomore season with the French team—stated that he’s fully prepared to return to racing later this month.
“I must say, it’s my second year with the team, I’m feeling a lot better. I know the whole team—last year, I met the people I was going to work with only once or twice. I didn’t know much, and was thinking a lot of getting up to speed with the team,” he said.
“I’m feeling, physically, in the best shape I’ve ever been; mentally in a great place. A very good place for the team—I feel like [there’s] a great atmosphere, a good attitude, a good spirit in the team with a desire to improve and really move forward.”
The team suffered a slump in performance last year, with their A523 lacking pace from the outset. As Alpine struggled to get to grips with their car, their closest rivals developed effective solutions and found extra performance through upgrade packages. Although the French team got a second wind towards the end of the season, a P6 finish in the constructors’ standings was ultimately the best they could do—two positions lower than the year before.
After identifying key problem areas, Alpine opted to completely revise their design philosophy with the A524.
“So yeah, great place, now we’ve got to see what we can do with that new car. It’s a new concept, a pretty aggressive approach, we already know we started from a new piece of paper and we’ll have to be patient with that car. There is potential, but we have to see where we start in Bahrain.
“It’s—okay, it might not be visually very different. But it is, when you look into details.
“Obviously we’ve been aware of all the changes from last year, in terms of suspension, aero, chassis, the way that the PU is integrated within the car. It does bring a lot of differences, which, all small details added together have a pretty big impact on car behaviour and car potential,” Gasly explained.
“It does look good, but it’s mainly the performance which interests me, and we’ll have to find that out in Bahrain.”
Gasly confirmed that he put the A524 through its paces on the simulator, but noted that the team won’t really know where they stand until the car hits the track. Both Alpine drivers are set to participate in a shakedown on February 20, the day before pre-season testing kicks off.
“I did, obviously, a lot of sim work since last year. But I’m always quite careful in the simulator because, at the moment, it’s all sort of wait and see. Ultimately you need to put the car on the race track and see what it’s like, get the feel of it and really assess the car behaviour, aero behaviour on the race track. So I’m coming into Bahrain with an open mind.”
Alpine’s early-season struggles prompted significant management changes, with key figures such as CEO Laurent Rossi and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry exiting the team in the space of a few weeks. Team principal Otmar Szafnaeur and Sporting Director Alan Parmane turned up at the Belgian Grand Prix aware they will not be returning to their respective posts after the summer break.
Following Szafnaeur’s departure, French engineer Bruno Famin assumed the role of interim leader, with Alpine announcing him as the team principal for the 2024 season.
Asked about his experience working under new management, Gasly admitted that the changes have largely been positive.
“I must say, it’s been good. I’m really happy.
“I think overall last year was obviously a disappointing season, we didn’t perform the way we wanted, but the second part of the season felt like it was slightly more maximised.
“There was definitely some changes and a big desire and drive to improve the potential within the team, within the race team, and drive that sort of mentality into the race pace. From what I’m seeing… I’m really happy with the changes I’ve seen so far. (…) I’m in a great place as well, and I just want to get behind the wheel.”
The French driver stated that he aims to keep performing at a high level, and added that his familiarity with the engineering team will be an advantage going forward.
“Keep the momentum. I’m very happy with the engineering team I have around me, we got a better understanding of what we need, both as a team and myself as a driver. I think the team understood well what the car characteristics [I like] are and the way that I work.
“We’re doing really well, so I think it’s mainly about keeping that collaboration going and keeping that way of working together, the way we finished the year. I’m quite confident that we’re just going to start the season where we left off in Abu Dhabi.”
