It has been a tough season to date for Alpine as they do not have a single point in the bag. They brought a small upgrade at the Japanese Grand Prix to help with the weight issues.
Alpine has been on the back foot since pre-season. But the Suzuka upgrades worked as expected.
The Enstone-based squad has managed to bring forward the scheduled update for Miami to the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix. The revised floor will be given to Esteban Ocon.
“Well, I think as a team it’s very positive, we managed to bring this first big upgrade onto the car, I was planning Miami and they managed to fast track it to China. So I think they managed to do a very good job on that side,” said Gasly.
He explains that having the updates on Ocon’s car will be better for them in terms of functionality.
Nonetheless, it should be harder on his side this weekend without the upgrade on his car — the 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner has yet to get out of Q1 this season, with Ocon making it through to Q2 in Australia and Japan.
Gasly will be using the new floor in the next round at the Miami Grand Prix.
“Unfortunately operationally it was better to do it that way and unfortunately it means it’s going to be a pretty tough weekend and tricky weekend on my side.
“But I think looking ahead we know it’s something that should bring us closer to the points and potentially give us a shot at it.
“So I think it’s definitely positive and that’s the way we should look at it and looking forward to Miami and get this package on the car.”
Alpine finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with 120 points in 2023, scoring 2 Grand Prix podiums along the way. They are currently dead last this year.
The Frenchmen also expressed that the new upgrades will be able to move them closer to the cars at the front of ‘F1 2.0’.
“It’s definitely a significant change where we do know it’s going to be bringing us closer to the front pack.
“There’s a couple of issues there and there on my side so I’m looking forward to get a clean and smooth weekend. I’m looking forward to see what it brings.”
The 28-year-old revealed that the new upgrades will help with their ongoing issue with the weight by reducing it. That will then help with better lap times.
Gasly also said that there are some aerodynamic gains because of the new upgrades.
“I think there is quite a big chunk of weight saving which is easy lap time to quantify and also some aero gains so we’re quite confident it will bring what we expected.”
