Pierre Gasly says Alpine must strive to execute better weekends more consistently if it wants to establish itself as a regular front-running Formula 1 team.
A troublesome start to the year for Alpine prompted CEO Laurent Rossi to declare changes would be enforced unless rapid improvements were made on the track.
The Enstone side has since responded emphatically by landing a podium finish in Monaco, courtesy of Esteban Ocon converting a third-place starting berth.
While Gasly says he took positives from his team-mate’s Monte Carlo exploits, he concedes an element of frustration remains that he hasn’t yet been able to deliver a similar headline-grabbing result.
“I begin with some mixed feelings after the last two races in Monaco and Spain,” Gasly said in his column on the F1 website. “Firstly, I was super pleased for the team and Esteban to record a podium in Monaco.
“It just shows that when we get things right, all the small details, as well as having some fortune on our side, we have what it takes to seize opportunities ahead of us and come away with a big reward. Of course that result was tinged with some frustration on my side as I know there was a much bigger outcome than seventh place for that race.
“We know we have it in our hands and I know I have it in me to come back with this type of result. I’m confident we’ll have some more shots at the podium this season.”
After being comprehensively defeated in Monaco, Gasly rebounded to out-qualify Ocon by three places to wound up fourth for the Spanish Grand Prix.
However, two separate three-place grid drops for impeding other cars in Q1 and a lousy start meant the Frenchman was only able to trail home a disappointing 10th in Barcelona.
“It was another case of what could have been in Spain on my side,” he rued. “To qualify fourth, start from 10th, and drop to 14th on Lap 1 was painful. Within 24 hours, I go from the second row on the grid to climbing a mountain.
“I think the circumstances in qualifying were unfortunate but we had to accept it and play with the cards we had for the race.
“When you start in the midfield you are always going to be more susceptible to incidents and I was squeezed by Checo at Turn 2, wide in the gravel with nowhere to go and that pretty much left us playing catch up for the remainder of the race.
“I think we did very well to grit our teeth and recover back to the points in the end. An amazing Saturday afternoon which again was not converted into a just reward on Sunday.”
Having also squandered a potential big haul of points by colliding with Ocon during a late restart procedure in Australia, Gasly believes Alpine hasn’t accumulated the results to show for the speed its A523 car has demonstrated at times this season.
Nevertheless, the ex-Red Bull affiliate claims he takes confidence from Alpine’s recent performances and reckons the team needs to ensure it executes weekends more tidily to deliver more consistent points scores.
“The good news on this is the fact the Alpine car has the speed and the potential,” he added. “Other than the runaway leaders Red Bull, it’s a fight between Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and ourselves.
“As we’ve seen, there’s a big difference between qualifying and race results across these teams and each race there is some variety. Right now, we are at the back of this pack, but with the ability to throw our name into the ring – as we showed in Monaco and at times in Spain.
“Finding consistency will be key to reaching our goals and really competing with these teams. There have been far too many races where I have the speed but without the end result to show for it; Australia, Monaco and Spain spring to mind, and we are working with the team to fix some minor details, execute better weekends and do a more complete job.
“That’s the reason why I’m feeling confident and satisfied right now. I know the ingredients are there, we just have to mix them the right way!”
