Gasly says that the Barcelona form was a surprise to the team
Pierre Gasly admits that his Alpine Formula 1 team didn’t expect to have a Q3 car in Barcelona and that it is important to find answers that explain why the A524 was so fast in qualifying.
Gasly qualified seventh in Spain, right behind the Ferraris, while his team mate Esteban Ocon moves from his original ninth to eighth thanks to a grid penalty for Sergio Perez.
While welcoming the performance Gasly acknowledged that the team has to understand why the car is competitive.
“I think no one really saw that coming,” he said when asked about his session by this writer.
“And I always told them it’s nicer when we’ve got to explain why you over perform rather than underperform.
“But it’s as important for us to find these answers, because coming here, we definitely didn’t expect to have a Q3 car.
“Since yesterday, there was some performance, and even today, it was a very clean session.
“And looking at the gaps, we are only a tenth-and-a-half from Lewis, and even Carlos and Ferrari managed to win a race not a long time ago.
“So I must say, it’s, very strange, but we take it. It was a good quali, and I think very good boost of motivation for the for the team.”
Asked is he had any clues about why the A524 is so fast in Barcelona he said: “For now, no. I wish! But I can only tell what I feel in the car, and what I feel in the car is very similar to what we’ve had, but we just seem to have somehow more potential available on it.
“So, yeah, we can see a few things here and there which are interesting on data, but we need definitely more digging.”
With Perez penalised the two Alpines are together on the grid again. Asked if he expected an internal discussion about the first lap in the wake of the Monaco collision Gasly suggested that it was likely.
“I think we should, based on the recent event,” he said. “I think as a team, it will be normal, but as a professional, I know what I’ve got to do, and I always kept it very clean, and always keep it very clean.”
The strong Q3 performance with Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo was in the garage at a time when the future direction of the team is under discussion.
“For sure, it’s good,” said Gasly. “It’s been a tough season, and we are all not pleased with the results we’ve been getting so far, Luca, the first one, I know how motivated is with the project.
“And I’m sure on a day like today he’s happy to see the improvements. And we’ve got to keep going. It’s of course good.
“Last year I qualified fourth here, this year seventh. So it’s still work to do, but definitely it’s positive to see some improvements compared to where we started a couple of weeks ago.”
Regarding de Meo’s newly-announced advisor Flavio Briatore Gasly said: “I spoke with him yesterday. I think it was very clear with his ambition, and I want to be at the top of the field, and that’s what he wants as well. So I think we align on the targets and the ambitions for the team.
Adam Cooper F1 