Pierre Gasly concedes that a lack of upgrades at Alpine is forcing the team to work with what they have. For the foreseeable future, Bruno Famin’s technicians will dedicate their efforts to understanding how they can improve the A524. In the meantime, points could be out of reach.
In fairness, there were a few encouraging signs for Team Enstone in Melbourne. Esteban Ocon managed to scrape through into Q2, albeit in a session with only 19 drivers. The Frenchman managed to convert this promising qualifying in the early stages of the Australian GP.
Ocon spent the first quarter of the race hounding Alex Albon whilst keeping eventual points-scorer Nico Hulkenberg at bay.
However, a rogue tear-off forced him to make an additional step, effectively ending his afternoon. On the opposite side of the garage, Pierre Gasly finished a very lonely 13th, even though several front-runners retired from the race.
Although the A524 is still at the back of the field, Alpine are at least more competitive than they were in Bahrain. Unfortunately for the French outfit, this is hardly saying much.
PIERRE GASLY: UPGRADES WILL TAKE SOME TIME
In his post-race interview, Gasly admitted that improvements are a long way from arriving:
“It’s going to take time, we are all aware. We know what we’ve got to work on. Obviously, in F1, it’s not overnight [success]. So it’s going to take some time. Meanwhile, we’ve got to do the best we can at the track and try to capitalise on any opportunities.
“That’s what we’ll keep doing… It’s going to be a long year, but we do need these upgrades to fight for competitive positions.”
To some degree, these quotes are hardly a surprise. Alpine’s hectic start to this year’s campaign – both on and away from the track – has done little to inspire confidence. Gasly’s comments indicate that even before the lights went out in Bahrain, it was clear the road to recovery would be long.
Alpine’s current limitations are not specific to one area, with the team losing out in all areas. As a result, the team must take time to understand how to prioritise 2024 development.
As it stands, they are still unfamiliar with their 2024 package. Whilst this can be said for everyone else, the situation is clearly more acute at Enstone than anywhere else.
