Amid Esteban Ocon’s Podium Celebrations, Pierre Gasly Rips Alpine’s Dodgy Tactics to Shreds in a Fiery Public Rant

This Monaco GP was full of ups and downs for the three teams who finished on the podium. For Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso finished P2 whereas Lance Stroll crashed out. Red Bull had Max Verstappen taking the victory at the expense of lapping Sergio Perez twice. Alpine did not have such a dramatic difference between the two drivers. However, Pierre Gasly unleashes a furious rant to remind everyone of Alpine’s dodgy tactics as they celebrate Esteban Ocon’s podium. 

Esteban Ocon’s podium was a much-needed relief for the Alpine team who have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. Laurent Rossi slandered Alpine publically and the podium came at the right time to prove to the Alpine CEO that not all has been lost. Esteban Ocon himself could be seen ecstatic to be on the podium as the team celebrated it like a race win. 

Whilst Pierre Gasly is happy for the team, the Frenchman himself would’ve had a shot at the podium if it was not for the questionable Alpine strategy. With the rain fast approaching, Alpine pitted Pierre Gasly for a new set of tires against Gasly’s wish who wanted to stay out and wait for the rain. 2 laps into the stint the inevitable happened as rain poured trackside. Gasly had to pit again and the hopes for the podium were gone. 

According to a video uploaded by Formula1.com, Pierre Gasly said “I’m obviously disappointed and a bit confused with the decision we made because we were P3 at the time with the rain coming and I was kind of rubbing my hand because it was the perfect scenario for us. And then we decided to box for 2 laps, use the soft before we had to switch to the inters, so yeah. At that time I feel like we are P3, P4 for the team. Could have been better but you know, it’s part of the sport. We’ll analyze what we could’ve done better”

Read More: A Year After Losing Due to Ferrari’s Blunder, Charles Leclerc Jumps to Defend Questionable Monaco GP Strategy Call

Gasly is right in saying that the team could’ve done better. Despite securing a podium, Esteban Ocon recently suggested that Alpine should not get complacent and use this podium to add positivity to the team. 

Esteban Ocon advises Alpine to keep its feet on the ground

While Esteban Ocon’s performance throughout the Monaco GP weekend was excellent, the Frenchman asks the team to not get complacent. He wishes the team to take the podium as a momentum shift. Ocon hopes for the team to score many more podiums in the future but also keep their feet on the ground as there are many areas that still need to be worked on.

According to Motorsport.com, Esteban Ocon said, “I haven’t been on the podium for a while and I hope this is the first of many others. But I think we should keep our feet on the ground at the moment.”

“We made some updates [in Monaco] that were supposed to be quite small, but everything we brought is going in the right direction today. Yes, the feelings were definitely good and I hope this is the beginning of something, but I think we need to keep our feet on the ground and see where we will be next weekend. It’s going to be a good test.”

Watch this story: Why do People Find the Monaco GP Boring?

What do you make of Pierre Gasly’s comments? Should Alpine have kept him out for those 2 extra laps?