Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Pierre Gasly vented his fury over team radio at Imola, believing he was disadvantaged, as “always”, against Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon as the signs of tension continue in this rough start to the season.
Having ushered in sweeping changes to their senior staff ranks over the last year, Alpine has found itself in quite the rut at the start of the F1 2024 campaign, the team sitting P8 in the Constructors’ Championship with just a single point to their name after seven rounds.
Pierre Gasly grills Alpine over ‘very badly managed’ FP3 incident
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who are currently without a contract for the upcoming season, are undoubtedly disappointed by this subpar performance. Speculations about their potential departures have only added to their frustration. Gasly’s discontent was evident as he conversed with his race engineer, John Howard, at the conclusion of FP3.
After a red flag caused by Sergio Perez’s crash, there were only slightly over two minutes remaining on the clock. The race to complete a last flying lap commenced, but Gasly was left dissatisfied due to feeling unfairly treated by his team. He pointed out that this situation of being disadvantaged has become a recurring pattern, as his teammate Ocon was able to squeeze in a final push lap while Gasly was not given the opportunity.
The radio exchange between Gasly and race engineer Howard turned fiery in the following manner.
Engineer: “To begin with, let’s head to the grid.”
Gasly exclaimed, “Why do we always find ourselves in these situations? Nothing ever seems to change!”
The engineer observed, “The crowd clustered together, resulting in no one having a sufficient space in between.”
Gasly replied, “Yeah, except Esteban. Except Esteban. It’s always the same.”
The engineer expressed, “Esteban’s gap was not satisfactory.”
Gasly expressed confusion over the situation, stating, “I mentioned that we were given the top priority for this weekend. I am unable to comprehend it.”
Engineer – “We will address it at a later time, my friend.”
Gasly expressed frustration, saying, “Yeah, that’s [swearing bleeped]. The management was extremely poor. I just don’t get it!”
More reaction from the 2024 Imola GP
‘Idiot’ Ferrari fans who Max Verstappen gave the middle finger issue heartfelt apology
McLaren answer killer Lando Norris question on everyone’s lips after Imola GP
Gasly ended up in the P16 position at Imola, with Ocon finishing two places ahead. Unfortunately, Alpine experienced another disappointing race weekend. Gasly mentioned that his team attempted to experiment with a different strategy by starting on the soft tyre, but it ultimately did not work out as planned.
Gasly informed the media, including Thomas Maher from PlanetF1.com, that although they aimed to do something out of the ordinary, it does not guarantee that it will be beneficial.
“It is important for us to thoroughly analyze what went amiss, as during the initial phase of the race, I trailed closely behind Daniel Ricciardo and wasn’t too far from Nico Hulkenberg. However, we ultimately ended up finishing behind Ocon.”
“I believe we overlooked a few things that require our attention for better preparation in the future.”
When asked if starting on the hard tyre could have been a better strategy, Gasly acknowledged that in hindsight it is easier to say so after the race, but he believes it was indeed a better choice.
However, we are also struggling with the car, which is currently preventing us from performing at our best and earning points. As a result, we are compelled to take unconventional approaches, such as hoping for incidents like a Safety Car, in order to improve our chances. This race was fairly ordinary, but there were unforeseen factors that hindered us significantly.
However, Gasly did deliver some positive news, stating that he feels a significant improvement has been achieved with the Alpine A524.
“He said that he had been genuinely happy throughout the entire weekend until today, Sunday. According to him, there was definitely a positive progress in terms of emotions and consistency, indicating a significant improvement.”
“Regrettably, yesterday was overshadowed by the incident in Q2 when I went off track. However, aside from that particular lap, the rest of the weekend showed significant improvement compared to the previous one. Overall, I consider it a positive experience.”
“When you’re in a DRS train and closely following everyone, the experience is bound to be more challenging. Therefore, I believe we took a slight step back in performance. However, it is crucial for us to assess the overall situation and take everything into account.”
“We acknowledge that our chances of scoring points are not formidable. Currently, we rely on specific circumstances to work in our favor. However, on the whole, I believe we are gradually progressing.”
Alpine secured a spot on the podium last season thanks to Ocon, and now they are gearing up for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix.
Read next – Uncovered: Ferrari’s major SF-24 upgrades that could power them to Monaco win
