Days After Alpine CEO’s Brutally Harsh Criticism, Pierre Gasly Strikes Back With a “Fighting” Statement

After Lapo Elkann criticized Ferrari and gave them a wake-up call, Laurent Rossi seems to have taken some inspiration from him as he recently slandered his own team publically. However, despite the criticism, Pierre Gasly stood up to the occasion as he spoke on the team’s behalf and struck the French CEO with a thunder of a statement. But what did Pierre Gasly actually want?

Alpine’s start to the 2023 season is nothing to write home about. They are 6th in the championship tied with McLaren on 14 points. A very similar position to last year, with the exception of Aston Martin leapfrogging the whole midfield. Laurent Rossi came out firing shots in all directions as the Alpine CEO was disappointed with the start of the season. Otmar Szafnauer was called in charge of the performance with a minimum P4 in the constructor’s set at the expectation. 

The morale of the team is for sure going to take a hit after this harsh criticism. However, Pierre Gasly has come back with a fighting statement to help keep the morale high in the team. The Frenchman explains how everyone in the team shares the same ambition and wants to progress. The whole team wants to fight for bigger points as Rossi’s criticism was labeled as eagerness by him. Gasly concluded with a strong statement that everyone is trying their best. 

According to GPblog.com, Pierre Gasly said “I think we all share the same ambitions inside the team. We all want to see the team performing at the top and fighting for better positions than what we’ve been doing so far. I wouldn’t say it’s criticism, but more the eagerness, the will and the desire to be right there at the top. Everybody is trying their best.”

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Alpine might’ve had a slow start to the season but is moving in the right direction. As Gasly suggested, Alpine isn’t that far off the pace of its rival. 

Pierre Gasly on Mercedes and Ferrari not being that far up the road.

Alpine did bring a major upgrade package to Baku and is looking to capitalize on it. Had the driver’s not crashed into each other in Australia, the situation might’ve been different within the team. However the Alpine seems to be the best of the rest at the moment, faster than the midfield but a bit slower than the top 4 team. Nonetheless, Gasly explains how Ferrari and Mercedes are not far ahead in terms of pace.

According to GPblog.com, Pierre Gasly said “I don’t think we’re miles behind Ferrari and Mercedes right in front of us. Definitely, we’ve got some potential. We need to unlock a bit more from the package we have. We’ve got small bits coming here and there. Hopefully, that can close the gap with these guys.”

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What do you make of Gasly’s comments after Laurent Rossi’s slap on Alpine’s wrist?