A few race weekends ago, Pierre Gasly said, “There have been far too many races where I have the speed but without the end result to show for it.” After joining Alpine this season, it looked like Gasly fit right in with the team and got used to the car. Following a bumpy few weekends at first, Alpine got into the groove of scoring points almost every race weekend. But like Gasly said, there were far too many races where Alpine did not perform up to its standards. And, for the past few weekends, the situation has gotten worse, and Gasly has been left frustrated.

This season hasn’t been the smoothest of periods for Alpine. After CEO Laurent Rossi’s sacking, the past week—at the Belgian GP—saw three key figures, including team principal Otmar Szafnauer, leave Enstone. Amid this turbulence, the A523 hasn’t gotten any better, and Gasly and Esteban Ocon still seem to be struggling after a handful of lackluster performances. Despite a much-needed top-three finish during the Sprint in Spa, Gasly expressed how he’s less at ease with the car now than he was at the start of the season.

Alluding to Gasly’s frustration, his manager Guillaume Le Goff said, as quoted by motorsport.nextgen-auto.com, “Getting used to the car was quite quick. It was born the way it was born, a bit out of step with what we expected, so there’s a bit of frustration on that side. We didn’t [leave] AlphaTauri to fight for a point or two. There’s no secret.” [Translated by Google] That’s all Alpine has been fighting for in the past few races: a point or two. 

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With teams like McLaren having made significant steps recently, Alpine is back to fighting toward the back of the grid with Gasly’s former team, AlphaTauri, and that’s not what the Frenchman signed up for. While he’s been trying his best to extract the most out of the car—like he did during the Sprint—he can’t do more than the car has to offer. Even according to a former employee, that’s where the problem lies.

Pierre Gasly’s most formidable foe at Alpine revealed

Since joining Alpine this season, Gasly has struggled to find his stride with the French team. After a number of reliability issues, crashes, and missed opportunities, he’s not where he wants to be with the car. After his teammate achieved a podium in Monaco, Gasly would’ve hoped the performances would improve. Coupled with the updates the team was bringing, all signs pointed to an upward trajectory. But that didn’t happen.

Rather than improving the car, the frequent updates to the rear wing and floor of the A523 have created more discomfort for Gasly. The car has been the problem throughout the season, and former Renault engine director Denis Chevrier believes that’s how Gasly is losing confidence in his abilities. He said, “How do you get confidence in a car that doesn’t inspire it? When the car is not performing or difficult to adjust, inconsistent, there is nothing worse for a driver. It’s terrible.”

Will the summer break help Pierre Gasly figure out the A523 better, or will Alpine resume the second half of the season right where it left off?

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