Pierre Gasly says he’s impatient to get the Alpine upgrade package that his team mate Esteban Ocon trialled at the Formula 1 Chinese GP.
Logistical constraints meant that only Ocon could use the new parts in Shanghai, with encouraging results.
Ocon finished just outside the points in 11th, while even with the standard package Gasly was 13th, despite having lost some time early on with a pit stop delay.
“It’s just a couple of kilos lighter, more aero, more points of downforce all around,” Gasly said of the new package. “Most important is that is working. We saw it from the first session. A bit impatient to get it, but I know from Miami onwards, I’ll be on that package.
“And we’ll keep working, because we still want more than what we are seeing. So we still need to find more performance.”
Expanding on the weight saving he added: “It was actually even more than we expected. So it was a nice surprise arriving here. The car was overweight at the start of the year. And now we’re getting definitely close to where is our target.”
Gasly said he was encouraged by how both cars performed in Shanghai, with even his unmodified A524 showing improved performance.
“I’m actually quite pleased, because from every race since the start of the year that’s probably one of the closest from the top 10 we finished,” he said.
“On my side I knew it was going be difficult, looking at the performance in the first four races. Without the upgrade this weekend, I knew it was going to be tough.
“But in the end, we still managed to make it to Q2, did a good sprint race, quali and race. And today we actually managed to overtake a couple of guys, and be in the mix. Obviously not everything was smooth, there were a couple of moments which we need to review, which didn’t go as good as they should have been.
“But I think all-in-all, I’m just looking forward to being in Miami, and get that upgrade. And looking at Esteban, he’s not that far from the top 10. So it’s definitely positive to see it’s bringing us closer to the points.
“But obviously, we’ve got to keep working. The gap still big, and we’ve got to close it, and keep bringing new parts on the car.”
Gasly is convinced that the team is now going in the right direction after its troubled start to the 2024 season.
“The first few races we felt so much on the backfoot, we can’t really attack, we can’t really defend our position,” he noted. “Whereas it [the upgrade] just brings us a couple of tenths, which means we can be slightly closer, we can be a bit more in the mix.
“And on days like today we can see that we’re actually not that far from the points. There is a big gap with the top five. So it seems like at least for the next couple of months, we’ll be fighting for small points.
“But yeah, it will be crucial, and definitely make a big difference at the end of the year. Definitely looking forward to be in Miami.”
Gasly also conceded that a mechanic changing the right rear tyre was lucky to escape injury in the pit stop drama.
“Quite scary, actually,” he said. “The light went green, so I dropped the clutch, but then it went red straight away. And then I saw in the mirror that the wheel wasn’t on. The mechanic is fine, which I was a bit scared of.
“Obviously we’ve had a couple of instances this year where I’ve lost some time in the box. So I’m sure we’ll review exactly what’s happened, and improve it for next time.”
He added: “I had a bit of a moment with Alex [Albon] at the start as well, kind of being pushed wide. So there are a couple of areas where we’ve lost time, and we’ll review. But with the car that we had today, honestly, I’m already glad we finished 13th.”
Adam Cooper F1 