Is it even testing when you can’t test your limits? The Bahrain Pre-Season testing concluded last night. And while the teams have collected a humongous amount of data to work on, the duration of ever-reducing testing time is a point of contention between the governing bodies and stakeholders. Pierre Gasly is the latest to chime in to enumerate the shortcomings of the short duration of testing.
The stipulated testing time of the machines has been on a decline. Over the years, the time has come down to only three days of testing for both drivers of the team, which in turn means a day and a half for each driver to get acquainted with the new car. An additional run is given to the teams in the form of a 15 km demonstration and two 100 km ones for the promotional event but with restrictions. The new man at Alpine, Pierre Gasly, has shared that even though he has worked hard on the simulator during the winter break, the testing duration is not enough.
As quoted by Top Gear, Gasly said, “But no, I agree with George. I saw the comments he made and that’s what I thought, especially reducing the testing with only three days, you end up only having one and a half days. Half of these days are for aero testing with rake so… as a driver you can’t really push.”
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He further added, “You don’t really learn about the car, and then you’ve got half a day for lower fuel running and then half a day for race preparation. But in terms of actual pushing laps before FP1, I’ll probably get 70 laps in a race car.”
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The man who has rued over a limited time to test his vehicle also has a mammoth task to learn the intricacies of his new team’s vehicle.
Same yet not the same, Pierre Gasly gives insight on Alpine car
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The man who was with the AlphaTauri jumped ships last year. He bid goodbye to his old home of almost a decade to join the French team. While that is a thing of the past, Gasly has recently concluded testing with his new team. And he says cars may look similar on the outside but are a completely different ball game.
Gasly said, “The cars look quite the same, just with different colors from the outside, but from the inside it’s a massive change,” he explains. “So the more time I get to work with my engineer the more they know me, the more they know my driving style, the more they understand my feedback.”
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Do you think Alpine is the right match for the talented Pierre Gasly? Can he utilize his complete potential to realize the ultimate dream?