Tag Archives: alpine

November 15, 2025 · 12:17 pm

How Gasly and Alpine were left mystified by a surprise return to the points in Brazil

Gasly twice scored a point in Brazil, but he could not explain Alpine’s form

The Sao Paulo GP weekend saw some unusual swings in form, and perhaps none was more surprising than a return to the points for Pierre Gasly and Alpine for the first time since the Frenchman finished P10 at Spa back in July.

In the seven races that followed Gasly managed only 19th, 17th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 19th and 15th, usually starting from close to the back and running a long opening stint in the hope that a red flag or safety car might help out.

In Brazil, where he finished third behind team mate Esteban Ocon in the previous year’s wet race, things suddenly clicked, and neither he nor the team could explain quite why.

He scored a point in the sprint and then another in the main race – not much in the grand scheme of things, but a useful boost for a team that has tumbled to last in the pecking order and which has long been focussed on 2026.

Whether those points turn out to be the last ever logged in F1 by a Renault power unit remains to be seen over the final three weekends of this season.

From 13th on the grid for the Interlagos sprint Gasly moved up to P8, helped by some attrition ahead and by a crucial move on Lance Stroll in the closing laps.

“I’m gutted they didn’t show it on the TV, because it was two nice launches into Turn 1,” he said when I asked him about his progress. “And I knew the points were right in front of me, and I would have not slept tonight if I would have not tried something.

“So my first one, my first move, was quite optimistic, and he managed to actually get it back on the exit. But I wasn’t going to let him go away with that point!”

On Saturday afternoon Gasly ran through the first two qualifying sessions in P2 and P6, before earning P9 in a closely bunched middle order in Q3.

“We were on the wrong side of the pack, let’s say,” he noted. “I think seven-hundredths gets us to P5. It is what it is. At the end of the day, I look at where we were last week, the week before, last month, two months ago.

“I think we can be extremely happy to be seven-hundredths from P5 and four-tenths from pole position. If someone would have told me that coming into the weekend, I would have taken it.”

This was Gasly’s first appearance in Q3 since Silverstone, and he was as surprised as anyone by the surge in form.

“Much bigger things to understand,” he said. “At the moment, we’ve just got to dig, because it’s not like the car is very different than it has been. From the first lap, it just felt like a completely different car, more similar to what I’ve had when the car was at best this year in Bahrain, or this type of track.

“So bigger picture, a lot to understand. I must say on my side at the moment I’m more enjoying session after session and actually feeling like I’ve got a car that I can race with and drive more the way I want to drive.”

He had no explanation as to why things had clicked: “There are few ideas. But the reality is we don’t fully know. I don’t want to say anything which might not be true. I know the guys are looking very deeply into it, and it’s quite complicated, but we need some answers. At the moment, we have a lot of questions, not many answers.

“Hopefully we will have some more in the coming weeks. I think track characteristic plays quite a big factor. But I cannot believe it’s only down to that. So we’ve got to understand it.”

Starting P9 boded well for Sunday’s GP. In the end he gained a spot from the retirement of Charles Leclerc, while losing out to Max Verstappen and Nico Hulkenberg, on the way to 10th place.

“Very happy, because last time we scored points on a Sunday was in Spa before the summer break,” he said. “And it’s been a very long walk in the middle of nowhere for three months. A strong weekend, Q3, one point in the sprint, one point today.”

Nevertheless he admitted that he wanted more from the race: “If I’ve got to be honest, I’m a little disappointed with today. I took a great start, managed to pass Bearman, managed to pass Russell. Both occasions, I’m losing the position in the straights, which would have put us in a much better track position for the rest of the race.

“I managed to dive twice in the inside of Hadjar, but every time in the straight to Turn 4, he got past me very easily. I feel like I had quite a lot more pace, I was just not really able to fully like show it.

“At the end, it’s one point, and I’m definitely not going to complain about it, because I would have taken it every single day since three months. I’m sure we’ll have a look if we could have done any anything different. But I do feel we had some more pace than we were able to show.”

He took an aggressive approach as one of the eight drivers to use the soft initially, in contrast to recent races where he has started on a hard tyre and run as long as possible,

“This is what you do when you’re far off the pace and trying to bank on a red flag or safety car at some point. Today I just wanted to use the pace, which unfortunately is not what I was able to do. I think I struggled more on the soft.

“We fitted the new medium on the second stint, hoping to go a bit longer. But unfortunately, we got pushed to box quite early. So I did a short stint on the new tyre, and a longer one on the used.”

Despite some frustration Gasly was happy to have a car that he could push to the limit, which hasn’t been the case of late.

“I was able to drive in a way that I want. The car was responding to what I expect the car to do, and we had a lot more potential. In quali yesterday, to be less than five-tenths from the McLaren knowing the package we have, it just showed there was something like we’re actually very competitive in the corners, and I was pleased the car was responding to my input, and there was nothing really very strange.

“So it’s what I expect from a race car. One point is not going to change my life, nor the life of the team. But I think it’s just important in the bigger picture to understand where that entire potential came from, and where it was the last few weekends.

“Everything’s got to be analysed. It’s rarely down to one single factor. It’s probably a lot of small things added together which make a bigger difference. And it was night and day was what I felt since three months.”

We now head to Las Vegas, another quirky track where last year Gasly followed up his Interlagos podium by qualifying third, only to retire with an early engine failure.

“We have no idea why we’re fast here, and we have no idea why we were so slow in Mexico,” he said. “We do have small ideas, but not enough to say that’s going to be fine. Last year I qualified third in Vegas.

“I will not put money on third from me in Vegas this year, but Max was nowhere yesterday, today he was third. Usually we’re nowhere, and we were strong the whole weekend. So it’s quite a few things to work on.”

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July 12, 2025 · 10:40 am

Why “warrior” Gasly believes P6 at Silverstone was as good as Interlagos podium

P6 might not sound like much for a works team but Gasly gave Alpine a timely boost

While Nico Hulkenberg’s drive to third place at Silverstone last weekend rightly grabbed the headlines it wasn’t the only impressive underdog performance.

For Pierre Gasly and his Alpine Formula 1 team sixth place was a welcome boost after a difficult run in recent weeks.

It might not like sound like much for what is a works organisation, and in the grand scheme of things it didn’t move the team out of P10 in the World Championship, given that all the midfield teams have been scoring well recently.

Nevertheless it was a useful score for a team that had previously logged only a seventh and eighth place in 2025, and in its way given the mediocre form of the A525 it was as unlikely as the remarkable two-three finish in the wet in Brazil last season.

“I think last year the overall performance relative to the others was in a much better place,” said Gasly when I asked him about that comparison.

“So considering the car was in a better place, we were on the podium. It was incredible.

“But this year, I feel we are in a worse place. The others have a better package. And yeah, that P6 is probably as good. So I think we all very happy, especially to do it here in Silverstone.

“I know a lot of guys are here from the factory, and we definitely need that boost, because we all have our eyes on next year.

“But for everybody to work as hard as ever, they also need a bit of extra energy and extra motivation, which I’m sure it will give them today.”

A feature of Gasly’s season this year is that at some tracks he’s been able to make it into Q3. However he’s then faded in the race, mainly due to tyre usage.

At Silverstone he qualified 10th, and then gained two places on the grid thanks to penalties for Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli.

That was already a handy bonus, but more was to come – at the end of the formation lap George Russell and Charles Leclerc peeled into the pits, leaving Gasly in sixth place with a couple of empty spots ahead of him.

At the start he went one better, passing Fernando Alonso to put himself in fifth. Hulkenberg and Stroll got ahead on strategy, and after battling at various times with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Gasly crossed the line in sixth.

“Honestly, I don’t really know where to start,” he said. “Because P6, at the start of the weekend, no one would have ever imagined that we’ll be in such a position. Fighting Fernando at the start of the race, I managed to get past him, on the wet I was feeling extremely good.

“And right behind Lewis, I eventually managed to get past him as well before the safety car. And battling with Max at the end, who was on pole yesterday. I mean, at some point I wondered what the heck was going on in my race!

“But yeah, we took the risk, but the right one, and all the calls were right, the strategy was great, the pit stops were good, and we made the best out of all these conditions. I managed to defend my position at the right time not to lose track position and too much time.”

Gasly was worried about losing performance after the switch to slicks, although in the end he managed to hang on to a decent result.

“In the dry I knew it will be tough for the reasons we obviously know around this track,” he said.

“And yeah, it was tricky. But I think all in all with evolving conditions, having to look after the tyre, having to push on the wet, on new tyres, on destroyed tyres, I think we really made the best out of these conditions.

“And it wasn’t easy. There were a lot of traps. We managed to avoid all of them, and in the end, it’s pretty much the perfect day for us…”

Good calls helped, but in the end it was Gasly himself who got the job done.

“The whole race every single lap was tricky,” he admitted. “You’ve got to stay on track. But at the same time, these are the moments where you know you have everything to lose, but you have everything to win, because you know the other guys are also going balance this type of risk they are taking.

“But these are the moments where, for me, I know I have a lot to gain and I just need to go for it, and be at the limit without going over that line. And I love this type of conditions.”

It might only be a P6, but the result was welcomed in an Enstone camp that has had little to shout about recently, aside from the recent confirmation that the experienced Steve Nielsen will come on board as managing director in September.

“I’m just very proud of all the team, because this year is very tricky for everyone,” said Gasly.

“We know the car is not in the place we like to be, but every single day we go out there we try our best, and today really showed that we are able to perform and make the best out of the opportunities when they when they come to us, so very proud of them, and very happy.”

Gasly meanwhile continues to show what he’s capable of. For the last couple of years he was in a tense situation with former team mate Esteban Ocon, but this season he’s been a clear team leader alongside rookies Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto. It’s a role that he’s clearly enjoyed.

“I think it’s always difficult to gauge, but I know I’m performing at a very high level with the car that I have at the minute,” je noted last weekend. “And whether it’s my best or not, it’s always tricky. But I know at the moment, there’s nothing else we can get out of it.

“So I managed to do it many times in Q1, Q2 and also in Q3, and then same in the race, so I’m pleased. It’s not the first time I’m facing challenges in my career, and I need to put my best every single time out there and in difficult conditions and motivate all the guys.

“But that’s what I am. I am fighter and a warrior, and I’ll always keep pushing them.”

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December 1, 2024 · 9:40 pm

Ocon/Doohan Alpine swap for Abu Dhabi set to be confirmed on Monday

Ocon is set to miss the final race of 2024. Picture: @tinnekephotography

Esteban Ocon is set to hand his Alpine Formula 1 seat to 2025 race driver Jack Doohan for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi – with the arrangement understood to be confirmed as early as Monday, once it has been formally agreed by all parties.

In essence the swap is part of a deal that will allow Ocon to be released by the team to take part in the Pirelli test with his future employer Haas on the Tuesday after the race.

Alpine originally agreed for Ocon to be released to do the test in September, and Haas boss Ayao Komatsu confirmed the following month to this writer that the Frenchman would be driving (see https://adamcooperf1.com/2024/10/31/ocon-and-hulkenberg-confirmed-for-new-team-debuts-at-abu-dhabi-tyre-test/.)

It’s understood that the idea of Ocon stepping out to make room for Doohan to drive in Abu Dhabi came up on as recently as Sunday in Qatar during discussions with team executive advisor Flavio Briatore.

The Frenchman is a contracted Mercedes driver who has in effect been on loan to Alpine.

“I think there’s a contractual relationship that that Esteban and we have with Alpine on driver services, and that contract expires at the end of the year,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“That’s the basis. And then if you agree that for the benefit of the future there’s a better solution that allows Esteban to get ready earlier and better for Haas, and if that depends on driving or not in Abu Dhabi, I think this is something which is we discussed today. And we’re going to talk about it tomorrow.”

Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes insisted on Sunday night that the deal has not yet been signed off.

“Basically, I think there’s been a discussion,” he said. “I don’t think there’s been a definitive answer, but it has been talked about.

“It’s obviously slightly complex, because as much as he is ours, he’s obviously contractually a Mercedes driver as well, and he’d like to be released early as well.”

Asked about the motivation for the arrangement Oakes said: “I think it comes from all sides, really. I guess you could say it’s good to get Jack in early. I think you could say from Esteban’s side, it’s good to move on early.

“I think it suits everybody. So I think the discussion was quite natural, really. From both sides it suits each other.”

He added: “I think there’s still some conversations to go through tonight, and maybe tomorrow morning, but I think it all seems moving in a direction that might be a good solution for everybody.

“I think really is probably that it just seems to suit everybody. And let’s have a discussion on it. Doesn’t mean it needs to be confirmed either way. I think Toto and Flavio have a really good relationship. I’m sure they’ll do what’s right for each other.”

Aside from his superb second place in Brazil Ocon has had a difficult 2024 season.

Shortly after his clash with team mate Pierre Gasly in Monaco it was announced that he was leaving to join Haas.

In recent races he has often been frustrated by his struggles to get as much out of the car as Gasly, although that was disguised in the wet Interlagos race.

“I think you could say that has a part to play,” said Oakes of the recent situation. “But I think really the bigger part is sort of a natural evolution of he’s moving on. Does it suit both of us to do that just a bit earlier for the last round or not?

“And from the other side you could look at it it’s advantageous to get Jack in the team, working with everybody – and get those butterflies gone now, rather than next year in Australia.”

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November 4, 2024 · 11:01 am

Ocon: Leading Interlagos F1 race was “a special moment”

A remarkable day for Ocon and his Alpine team in Interlagos

Alpine Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon says that leading the Sao Paulo GP was “a special moment” and admits that ultimately losing the lead to Max Verstappen was “a reality check”.

The Frenchman was fast from the start of Sunday’s delayed wet qualifying session at Interlagos, and he took P4 on the final grid.

He was running fourth on the wet track when a VSC prompted the three drivers ahead of him to pit for fresh intermediates, promoting him to the lead – before a red flag soon afterwards froze the positions and gave him a free tyre change.

After the race was resumed he continued to lead until Verstappen passed him following a safety car period.

He remained in second place to the flag, crossing the line ahead of Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly. The surprise result moved Alpine from ninth to sixth in the constructors’ championship.

“I’m not sure that is a reality or still a dream,” said Ocon. “But I smell champagne, so I think it is reality. But yeah, it’s been an incredible day. Who would have thought, first of all, that we were going to qualify fourth, where we qualified?

“We were very, very quick as soon as these conditions pulled out today. It really levels out the field here.

“And it feels great to be just able to fight with other cars, to fight with the guys that are at the front as well. And it shows that we’ve still got it. And when there’s an opportunity, we are always there to be able to take it.

“We were leading the race at some point. That was a special moment. I was pulling away from Max in that first restart. It was going super well. Unfortunately, at the end, a reality check came back, and Max was still better than us.

“But it feels extremely great, and even greater now because we’ve had a difficult couple of races lately where things don’t really work the way we want for us. But it clearly shows that we’ve still got it when it’s not all about the car and it’s also about driving.

 Regarding his pace in the wet he said: “I think we are normally better on the rain. It’s difficult to be worse at times than where we are on the dry, especially lately!

“But it’s definitely great to be able to execute such a race. The team have been spot-on on strategy calls, tyres. And when everyone is on a level playing field, we can play and here we are.”

“Max clearly was quicker on that second stint, so there was no way for me to be fighting. He pulled away very quickly, as I thought he would have done.

“I told him after the race, I was very impressed on how late he could brake to the inside without locking up the front. That’s what has happened to a lot of drivers.

“Probably in qualifying on 90% of my laps I had the front locking into Turn 1. But he made it stick, and it was a nice move.”

Ocon will move to Haas in 2024, ending his partnership with both the Enstone team and his longtime friend and rival Pierre Gasly.

“Well, it’s not signed off yet,” he said. “There are more races to go, three more. But if that’s the reward, then I’m very happy to call it that this is the reward. It’s been five years of good moments, more difficult moments, of course. But, yeah, extremely happy and proud, you know, of me and Pierre, to be honest.

“We’ve had our stories at times, but it’s been incredible to do that last formation lap. A lot of flashbacks came back to my memories, when we were racing on the wet in go-karts, when we were young, even in the snow with the slick tyres, we were both racing together and waiting for the podium or the win to come.

“And today, it tastes a bit like that. So a beautiful story from where we come from. One will for sure forever stay engraved.”

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October 18, 2024 · 6:52 pm

Correlation the key for Alpine as only Gasly gets new package

Only Gasly has the new A524 package in Austin

Pierre Gasly says that a successful correlation with simulations will be a more important outcome from the Alpine Formula 1 team’s A524 Austin update package than any specific gain in performance.

The Enstone team has brought a significant batch of updates to COTA including a revised floor, engine cover and rear wing, but only for Gasly’s car initially, leaving Ocon with the older spec.

Gasly says that it’s important for the team to prove to itself that it can translate what the wind tunnel and CFD say to the track as it pushes ahead with a development programme for the 2025 car.

Alpine has already committed to making major changes for next season when most teams are likely to carry over much of their current package.

“It’s a few new bits and pieces, new parts on the car, which have been worked on for over the past few weeks and months,” said Gasly when asked by the writer about the updates.

“We’re quite confident it’s going to bring the performance we expect. And we’ve had to wait for these parts. Hopefully, it can put us in a better position, because obviously the last few races have been pretty tough on our side.”

Gasly agreed that preparing for 2025 is the main focus rather than short-term gains.

“That’s the main target I see personally,” he said. “It’s more about the progress and development we’re going to see over the last six races. I’m not going to say I want us in Abu Dhabi to be fighting for 10th, ninth or 12th, it’s kind of irrelevant.

“But really [we want] to see the correlation between our tools and the stuff we’re working on delivering at the track, which will give us the confidence on next year’s package and the future. So that’s the main, I would say, objective until the end of the year.”

Expanding on the theme he said: “I think it’s still important this weekend to just see us moving forward in terms of performance, in terms of overall potential on the car. I think we are all aware of the situation.

“We all agreed as a team that whether we finish eighth in the championship or ninth in the championship, it’s not going to change anything.

“But the key thing here is the understanding and the belief that we can have in all the processes we’ve put in place over the last few months, and the work we’ve been doing into developing and finding performance on that package.

“Next year’s car is going to be very different, but we’re still learning, and everything we’re learning today will be useful for next year, and that’s why regardless of where we’re going to finish, it’s important that we do make these steps forward which and find that correlation.”

Gasly was given the updates this weekend as there are only two sets, leaving him with spares should they be needed.

“It was decided same as China earlier this year when we brought new parts, and Esteban had the new package and kept the spare parts for his car,” said Gasly. “And it’s the same this weekend, but the other way around.

“So it’s followed what we said back then, Esteban Ocon will get the first package, I’ll get the other one when it comes. So I’ll be the only one running it.

“So it’s my package and a spare, because obviously if you go into the weekend and lose any parts, then you’ll have to revert.”

Ocon meanwhile expects to have the new parts in Mexico next weekend.

“It’s been obviously a difficult run of races with the performance of the car,” he said. “That is very clear. Unfortunately, we maximised the potential in Singapore, but that wasn’t enough for us to be points scorers.

“Pierre will have upgrades. I will run the old car this weekend, and we should hopefully have the upgrades for the next races onwards.

“So we’re excited to see what that’s going to bring to the performance of the team, and hopefully it will be a better position for us to end this season.”

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July 6, 2024 · 7:20 am

Sanchez says Alpine F1 team has “everything needed” for success

Sanchez is adamant that the pieces can fall into place at Alpine

Alpine’s new executive technical director David Sanchez says that the Enstone Formula 1 team has “everything needed to make a competitive car.”

The former Ferrari man joined Alpine in May after brief spell at McLaren in a role that sees him overseeing a team of three technical directors, divided into the performance, engineering and aerodynamics areas.

The Frenchman, who previously worked at the team starting in the Fernando Alonso era in 2005, has now had time to make an assessment of what he has found.

“They are very good,” he said when asked about the team’s facilities. “Everything needed to make a competitive car is there. So I was very pleased when I joined.

“Coming from outside, there was obviously a few things where I tended to have my own opinion.

“There was a plan in place, we reviewed the plan, we adjusted a few things, and for sure, that car needs a big push on upgrades. We are working on it, and it’s going pretty well for now.

“Some of them were on the pipeline. Now we have a lot more coming up, plenty of ideas, and now it’s trying to pedal as fast as we can.”

Ask about the A524’s weaknesses he added: “I think it’s a bit of a lack of development. We just need more downforce, we need a bit more of everything, especially downforce.

“I think for now, we’re developing around the weaknesses. This year in-season, it’s a lot about aerodynamics and for next year’s car, when we review the hardware, we’ll try and focus on fundamentally changing a few aspects of the car, and that should be another step forward.”

Most teams intended their basic 2024 packages to remain largely unchanged heading into 2025, give the obvious focus on the 2026 rules.

However Sanchez admitted that Alpine will make mechanical changes for the A525.

“For next year, there will be conceptual changes,” he said. “Again, we’re talking on suspensions, mostly. For this year, we’re shifting a big focus on aerodynamics.

“I wouldn’t say it’s going to be big concept changes, because when you look at the car, it will look similar, but when you look at the aerodynamic characteristics, they would tend to be, some of them different, some of them with a just bit more powerful performance.”

Sanchez agreed that the team has done a good job of optimising what has been a relatively stable package recently, with both drivers regularly in the top 10.

“There is for sure at the moment good momentum in the team,” he said. “We’ll try and maintain this until we get more upgrades, and we should build on that.”

“This has been a lot about learning how to how best to run the car set-up wise. There are some aspects to get the car in low-speed corners, which is good, to get the car turning, but in traction, it’s not very good.

“And then it’s about how to combine aero and mechanical sides just to try and get in a different optimum. This is where we seem to be at the moment. We’re trying to go further this weekend, and in the future we will try and have a car bit more adaptable.”

Sanchez acknowledged that weight has been a key issue: “When the car is overweight at the start of the season you know that weight-saving is the most straightforward way to add performance of the car.

“So for us, it was a little unfortunate the extra weight at the start of the season, but there’s been a lot of very good work in the design office to get that car now under the weight limit.”

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April 25, 2024 · 7:46 am

Gasly “impatient” to get Alpine F1 upgrade in Miami

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.”

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