(Motorsport-Total.com) – Pierre Gasly will not draw premature conclusions for the rest of the season from his pole position in Monza. Although the Alpine driver sees signs of a clear upward trend, Gasly still does not know exactly how competitive the car will be on other tracks.
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“Honestly, I would like to know that,” says Gasly when asked which tracks Alpine could still favor in the second half of the season. The team first needs to better understand why the car was suddenly so strong in Monza.
For the race in Italy, Alpine had specifically adjusted the car in some areas. Gasly therefore wants to wait first to see how the performance develops on other tracks. Baku could be particularly interesting, as there are many slow corners there. Las Vegas or Malaysia could also suit the package better than Madrid, in his assessment.
From P8 to Pole
How big the surprise in Monza was is shown by Gasly’s comparison between the original expectation and the actual result. Before qualifying, Alpine had expected a position in the range of eight to ten based on simulation.
“We came with a certain expectation and a certain simulation that it would be P8, between eight and ten, before qualifying – and we qualified on pole,” says Gasly.
Precisely for this reason, he does not want to give the simulation values too much importance at the moment. “I will simply not overestimate the simulation right now, I will do my job and then we will see where that takes us.”
Much more important for Gasly is the longer-term trend. Since summer, Alpine has made progress. The Frenchman now wants to confirm this development and continue it over the coming race weekends.
Alpine wants to establish itself in the midfield
Gasly still hopes that Monza was not just a one-off outlier. Already in Zandvoort and Budapest, the gaps had become smaller. “I think that’s what we need to build on,” says Gasly.
Alpine does not suddenly have to find a second per lap. It is more about a few tenths, for which the team now has a clear direction. “We know exactly what things we need to work on to find the lap time.” He is satisfied with the progress so far. At the same time, there remains hope that Monza was not just a one-time outlier.
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The improvements from Zandvoort also gave the Frenchman more confidence in the car. There it was more difficult to optimally set up the vehicle because of the sprint format. Nevertheless, he felt a better balance and was able to drive the car more strongly as he wanted.
Gasly demands the next step
In Monza, Alpine then took another step forward. Gasly felt more comfortable in the car again. It was especially important for him that Alpine clearly distanced itself from the midfield in the race. “I was very clearly ahead of the midfield on Sunday, and I think, hopefully, that will be the case,” says Gasly.
However, he does not expect a repeat of the dominance from Monza. Gasly expects stronger competition in Madrid. Audi has a good chassis and should be competitive; he also sees the Racing Bulls as serious opponents. His goal is therefore clear: Alpine should work its way forward within the midfield. “I want to see us lead this midfield,” says Gasly.
Madrid becomes a tough test
Madrid in particular could show how much substance is actually behind the recent upswing. Gasly knows that the characteristic of Alpine’s setup can become a problem.
“We know that the way we set up our car is definitely not great for grip across the entire field,” he explains. The question will therefore be what Alpine gains in other track areas and what must be sacrificed in terms of the car’s characteristics.
The track presents almost every conceivable requirement. There are fast corners with speeds of 290, 270, or 250 km/h, but also slow sections, hard kerbs, 90- and 180-degree corners, as well as chicanes.
“I think it is literally a track with every possible type of corner, and we need a balanced package to handle it,” says Gasly. For Alpine, Madrid thus becomes an important test: Can the team confirm the progress, or was Monza really a special case?
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