After His Monaco Frustration, Pierre Gasly Laments Another Lost Opportunity as Alpine Tipped to Make Big Strides: “We Underperformed”

While Esteban Ocon was ‘on a cloud’, Pierre Gasly was ‘disappointed and confused’. When Alpine claimed their first podium in Monaco, Gasly was left feeling that it could have been him, rather than his compatriot teammate Ocon, who put the team on the rostrum. Having started the race in P7, Gasly claimed P3, however, Alpine made a strategy error, costing Gasly hugely.

When the threat of rain loomed over Principality, the team called Gasly in for fresh dry tires on Lap 47–only to be forced to call him back when the rain arrived. As a result, the 27-year-old driver finished where he’d started. After Italy’s disappointment, Gasly moved on to Barcelona, but he hasn’t had much luck there either. 

Pierre Gasly reflects on his performance in Barcelona

The Spanish Grand Prix race was largely uneventful for both Alpine drivers, especially for Gasly. The Alpine driver delivered a fine performance to qualify fourth on the grid. However, that fine work has been undone by the stewards. Having been found guilty of impeding other drivers–first Carlos Sainz in the penultimate corner during Q1 and then Max Verstappen in the first sector later on, Gasly was handed a grid penalty, dropping him to P10. Going into the race, it went from bad to worse for the 27-year-old. He lost four more positions on the race’s opening lap after running wide at turn two and ultimately finished P10. 

Reflecting on his ‘penalty’ filled Spanish weekend, Pierre Gasly said, “We have definitely taken a step. We have to fight for consistency and show that we can keep the pace despite the lanes we were going to now. I think we did that in qualifying. And on Sunday there were clear signs that the pace was there. I think it can always get a bit chaotic in midfield. After the first lap, I was fourteenth, ten positions down from where we had qualified. That changes your entire race. In free air the pace was good, but in a DRS train, where your tires overheat, you can’t optimize the package. I think we underperformed. We had the pace to keep up with Aston.”

Read More: Esteban Ocon Takes a Short Pit Stop to Order His Favorite Snack From McDonald’s During His Road Trip From Monaco to Barcelona

After the Monaco push, Spain was definitely a disappointing outing for Alpine. However, along with the Alpine, surprisingly, the Aston Martin underperformed as well. 

“We had no plan”: Fernando Alonso reflecting on Spanish Grand Prix 

Despite being the home hero, Fernando Alonso threw away his chances of a good starting position by damaging his floor in his out-lap in qualifying. A day later, they lacked the pace in the AMR23 to mix with the front runners- Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. Clearly, Aston Martin took a step backward on Sunday, compared to their qualifying pace. As a result, Alonso finished P7, behind Lance Stroll in P6- the Spaniard’s second race without a podium in seven GPs. But why did Aston Martin underperform in Spain, after a grand P2 in Monaco?

Assessing the strategy battle, Alonso told the media as quoted by Speedcafe, “We didn’t have a plan, to be honest. We were not sure about the degradation. George was so fast on the first stint, when he overtook me, we changed our minds a little bit – we didn’t want to run too close to the cars in front and extend the first stint.” 

Pointing out the strange behavior of AMR23, the 41-year-old said, “In Miami, we were so confused in free practice and then we qualified on the first row. From there the race was easier. In Monaco also, we struggled a little bit in practice, we qualified second, and then from that point, we secured the podium. We didn’t really show the pace of the car until Barcelona. The last few races were a little strange and qualifying-biased. Let’s analyze but I am happy with the race.”

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After the below-par showing at Barcelona, Aston Martin now sits third in the constructors’ championship, while Mercedes leapfrogged them to second.