Even before the lights went out on race day in Monza, Alpine knew coming into the weekend that it would be tough for them to repeat the performance of previous races which had seen them fighting in the points – this was due to the specific configuration of the Monza circuit. Therefore, it was hardly surprising to hear Pierre Gasly mention on Thursday’s media day, ahead of the F1 Italian Grand Prix that with sprint race unpredictability and street races still to come in 2024 he is “craving these sort of chaotic scenarios” as he expects that his physical fitness will give him the edge over his rivals.
Alpine have always been striving to recover from a less than successful start to their season. The car has been inconsistent in form but improvement is being made. Teammate Esteban Ocon had previously told media that he has been experiencing oversteer problems and this was supported by Gasly’s comments in Monza on media day.
“Yeah, it’s one thing we’re trying to fix and to improve.” Gasly confirmed. “Overall, I think it’s been one of the limitations. There is some understeer in mid-corner, which I don’t quite like and trying to cure and to fix.”
The driver of Alpine’s number 10 car then reaffirmed that the team has been playing catchup with their rivals throughout the season.
“Obviously, from where we started at the start of the year, the car was very poor. I think we got in a much better window, which actually allowed us to fight more. Now, when you look at the gap ahead, it’s a big gap. There’s still a lot of work ahead of us.”
Updates will always seek to narrow a gap and on the question of whether there are any on the way and if there are particular tracks which may favour his car, the Frenchman showed there are still more questions than answers.
“Tough to say, tough to say, because the way we look at it at the minute is the top 8 will always be the top 8, and then you’re fighting for 9th and 10th with the Aston, which are slightly up in average compared to the rest of the midfield. To be fair, we’re not really too much looking at, if, this race is going to be better, we’re more trying to optimise what we’ve got.”
Also during Thursday’s Monza Media Day, the 28-year-old was already looking at race weekends yet to come.
“I believe that our car next is going to be in a much better place, and for this reason what matters to me at this moment is just to make sure on Sunday night, regardless of the final position, we’ve left nothing on the table as a team, because it’s going to be important when we’re in a position to fight for bigger points.”
Having said this, it was clear that Gasly had in fact been holding out hope for a good Monza performance, seeing how a few days later after crossing the finish line P15 (having started P14) Gasly said post-race on the Sunday: “It was a long afternoon, and I am very disappointed as I thought that somehow, we would have more potential in the race compared to Qualifying yesterday. We had a brake issue yesterday which we found out after Qualifying and which carried into this afternoon. The car was bouncing a lot, and we had a lack of grip. We will now regroup and analyse the reasons why we weren’t able to be competitive this weekend compared to Zandvoort. We will understand and review the weekend with the objective to come back stronger in Baku.”
With Monza already being predicted as being a struggle, Gasly was reminded that there’s three street tracks still to come as well as sprint events – not to mention the possibility of rain in Brazil. Therefore, is he hoping for these circuits and conditions to provide opportunities?
“Yeah, this year I must say I’m very craving these sort of chaotic scenarios, which, I mean, we’ve had a bit of rain there and there, we know that in these conditions it kind of mixes up a bit the order. So, hopefully it’s out of our control, but we know it’s always welcome, with the performance we have at the minute. Street tracks, I think, Baku, Singapore are very unique, we have Vegas, which actually as a team was pretty strong last year, so there are going to be some tracks where it’s not as straightforward as Barcelona, where everybody’s done millions of laps.”
Not only this, but the Frenchman continues to state that his fitness could make a telling difference as he once again reminded those in attendance that he built up all his margins physically back in January and February. Due to this fact, Gasly reiterated: “I can confidently say that I’m one of the fittest drivers on the grid and I usually crave these conditions.” He then concluded by saying how physically he will have an edge on other guys who he knows don’t train as much.
The way that Alpine’s 2024 challenger is at present does tend to indicate that in variable conditions the driver could make more of a difference than the car. Gasly is not lacking in confidence and although he finds himself P14 in the drivers’ standings – and his team P8 – his comments evoke the image of a man who does not expect to remain there through to the end of the season. Alpine’s top point scorer of the season so far is looking at his rivals in front and he still has another 8 race weekends to catch them.
