Pierre Gasly insists he has “full trust” in the management reshuffle occurring at Alpine, arguing that the recent changes have not been a “complete restructuring.”
Alpine has endured a tumultuous campaign, only amassing 73 points across the opening 13 rounds of the year to regress two places to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Prior to the break, it was announced during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend that Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer and Sporting Director Alan Permane would be leaving.
The Enstone side also confirmed that Technical Director Pat Fry would be departing to take up the same position at Williams later this year.
Despite Alpine committing to widespread changes in its bid to get its ambition to fight at the front of the F1 field back on track, Gasly asserts it’s more of an “evolution” behind the scenes rather than a full rebuild.
“Yeah, obviously, it’s a couple of changes, which occurred in the last weekend in Spa, but I think, all in all, it’s looking at making the next step for the team, sort of evolutions,” he contended.
“It’s not a complete restructuring of the entire team. So, you have new people in new roles, with some experience, with a lot of experience in motorsport. And I think it’s a good opportunity, a very good opportunity for the team to kind of make that next step.”
Alpine Deputy Team Principal Bruno Famin stated Szafnauer’s exit came amid differences in how the two parties viewed the team’s timeline for success.
Gasly says he supports the decisions imposed by Renault CEO Luca De Meo and admits he is confident that they will enable Alpine to recover from its latest setback.
“I believe in the changes. I believe in the project. Obviously I believe in Luca De Meo’s management strategy,” the Frenchman later added.
“Obviously you can’t expect very short, huge improvements in terms of performance, but you know, results will speak for themselves in the coming season, ’24, ‘25, I think.
“It was fair to say we were all disappointed with the performance we’ve showed in the start of the year, and at the same time, I just came in in January, the chance to work with Otmar, Pat and Bat [Alan Permane] for a very few months, and they’ve got a lot of experience in there. So I don’t think I’m the best placed to be asked on all those changes.
“But what I can say is I have full trust in Luca and, you know, it’s a sort of evolution. It didn’t have the trajectory that we wanted and I’m confident this is a sort of fresh start and an opportunity for all of us to kind of get back on track and make the best of it.”
Gasly secured his first podium in Alpine colours during Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, adding to the third place he scored in the Sprint Race in Belgium last month.
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