Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Pierre Gasly was keen to play down the significance of the Alpine Canadian GP team orders which irked Esteban Ocon, stressing that there was “great teamwork” across the board.
Alpine had requested Ocon, running P9, to concede position to Gasly so that he could attack RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, that request initially met with “forget it” from Ocon, who would oblige by the penultimate lap, with Gasly unable to pass Ricciardo from there.
Pierre Gasly says Alpine team orders ‘no big deal’
Ocon openly expressed his frustrations about the team’s failure to switch positions once more before the race ended. He mentioned that he had been acting as a “team player,” but Alpine didn’t fulfill their responsibilities.
Gasly highlighted the achievement of Alpine securing a double points finish, increasing their F1 2024 season total to five. He commended the remarkable teamwork displayed during the race.
After the race, he informed reporters, “To begin with, I believe the most significant news is that we managed to earn points with both vehicles. Surprisingly, when analyzing the simulations earlier today, it seemed unlikely for either of them to achieve such a feat.”
Today was definitely a highly positive day for the team.
“The objective became evident towards the race’s conclusion. As the race neared its end, I showcased superior speed on the hard tyres, trailing closely behind Daniel. Once Daniel successfully surpassed Esteban, the plan was for the other car to yield and allow me to pass, enabling me to utilize the DRS in my attempt to overtake Daniel within the final four laps.”
“It took a little longer than we preferred, but honestly, it’s not a significant issue.”
“It becomes challenging for Daniel to break the DRS within these two laps, especially since doing so with only two laps remaining is too distant.”
However, if it had been done slightly earlier, there is a possibility that I would have been in the DRS, providing me with slightly more opportunities.
“To be honest, it’s not a major issue. Despite that, I believe our teamwork was exceptional today. We experimented with various strategies, with Ocon opting to remain on the intermediate tires while I went for a pit stop and switched to harder compound tires. As a result, we gathered valuable data.”
“I believe it was an exceptionally successful day for the entire team, and securing three points could prove extremely valuable by the end of the year.”
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Alpine later released a statement explaining their decision not to place Ocon ahead of Gasly before the race concluded, citing the presence of the Haas car driven by Nico Hulkenberg as a potential threat that made such a maneuver too dangerous to undertake.
An Alpine representative stated that during Lap 68, Esteban received instructions to allow Pierre to overtake him, giving Pierre an opportunity to challenge Ricciardo for the 8th position.
Esteban’s declining performance due to the suspected PU issue prompted the team to have faith in Pierre’s ability to challenge Ricciardo, particularly when he had the advantage of DRS and Ricciardo did not.
Halfway into Lap 69 at Turn 8, Esteban allowed Pierre to pass. However, it was already too late as Ricciardo had pulled too far ahead for Pierre to apply pressure. Additionally, with Hulkenberg posing a threat from behind, swapping positions again would have been too risky.
The crucial aspect is that the team successfully secured the valuable double points.
Alpine returned to P8 in the Constructors’ Championship after the Canadian GP, now three points clear of Williams.
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