(Motorsport-Total.com) – After a disappointing start, when Pierre Gasly was only able to score just one championship point in Australia, Alpine has now finally established itself as the fourth strongest force: The Frenchman finished seventh at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka (race report) behind Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari.
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“It was another positive weekend for the team with a strong points result at the start of the season,” summarizes Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore, after Gasly had already driven to sixth place at the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks ago.
“The fact that we were able to repeat this on a different track configuration like Suzuka confirms the progress we made in Shanghai and shows that we currently have the fourth fastest car in the race along with Red Bull,” Briatore adds contentedly.
Gasly: “The best car in my career”
“That was a really intense race, and I am very happy with seventh place and the further points for the championship,” says Gasly, who lies in eighth place in the drivers’ championship after the third race of the season and thus ahead of Max Verstappen.
“It was a very good race, which was excellently managed by the team,” praises the Frenchman, who was able to complete his only pit stop behind the safety car and benefited from it. “It was a positive weekend for the team, and we are not too far from some of the faster teams ahead of us.”
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“The car has a solid base, so we must stay motivated and continue to work hard to catch up with the leaders,” explains Gasly, who becomes even clearer in an interview with Canal+: “I think it is currently the best car I have driven in my career, perhaps along with the 2021 AlphaTauri.”
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“I am very pleased that the car seems to be working well in the first weekends; we were able to extract performance in almost all areas,” adds the 30-year-old. “We know where our limits are and what we need to work on.”
“But we still have a month, we are working on things for Miami, so overall it’s a good sign.” Alpine also “did a good job” in Japan and further developed the A526 over the weekend, which also explains the strong pace in the race.
“We were able to build a good lead over Liam Lawson, who finished 18 seconds behind us, and we are seven seconds behind the Ferrari [of Lewis Hamilton] at the front,” emphasizes Gasly. “So if we can continue to move forward, I hope we can keep up with the leading group.”
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