Pierre Gasly believes the changes occurring at Alpine have taken the shine away from the strides being made behind the scenes at the team in Formula 1.
The last couple of months have turned into a prolonged period of transition for the Anglo-French marque.
Rookie Jack Doohan was benched in favour of Franco Colapinto midway through the 2025 season, which preceded Oliver Oakes’ resignation as Team Principal.
Meanwhile, last week, Luca de Meo, CEO of the team’s parent organisation, Renault, also handed in his papers.
On track, the A525 has not delivered optimum results, too, with the Enstone-based team languishing 10th in the standings, 10 rounds into the championship.
Despite this, Gasly, who will have a Mercedes power unit in the back of his car for the first time in his career next season, is adamant the team has made progress, but its good work has been outdone by the media attention roused by the off-track “headlines”.
“The headlines are not really showing any of the good work that we’re seeing or that I’m seeing at the factory, or even within the racing team,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think for me it’s important to keep the guys focusing on the actual work we’re doing behind closed doors, because that’s really good.”
Gasly isn’t planning on playing his trade in the midfield with Alpine for too long, either.
The Frenchman has set his sights on a maiden Drivers’ title for 2026 as Alpine transitions from a works outfit into a Mercedes customer team.
Alpine have been clear about how it also views the regulations reset as its best chance to move towards the front.
And so far, the 29-year-old sees a lot of potential in the foundations that have been laid down in preparation for the latest era of the sport.
“Obviously the noise outside is always going to be there, because when you have changes like that it’s always going to be talked about,” he conceded.
“But from what I’m seeing at the factory and the people working together, the staff, the new people coming in, there is a lot of potential.”
Gasly hedges bet on Alpine for 2026 title run
Flavio Briatore has found himself at the helm of the team once again after Oakes’ exit.
The Italian was instrumental to the team’s championship success with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, respectively.
Gasly hopes to see a similar turnaround in the squad’s fortunes. From what he has seen so far, the 75-year-old has already started aligning the team’s focus towards a run up the grid.
“Flavio has brought a lot with him and as you say I think the directions are very clear and we’ll see some rewards and dividends over the next few weeks and months,” he predicted.
“I’m very hopeful for next season, but I think it’s just important that we move on from this special week and just focus on the business as usual.”
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