Pierre Gasly did not mince words after a dismal Singapore Grand Prix weekend for Alpine.
He admitted that the team is “nowhere near where we should be right now,” in reference to their ongoing struggles.
This race marked the fifth consecutive weekend in which neither Alpine car scored any points, with Franco Colapinto in P16, and Gasly in P19.
Compounding challenges in Singapore
Gasly’s evening was made worse by a pit-lane start, following an off-track moment in qualifying that forced him out.
He acknowledged discomfort with the car in recent events, explaining that they altered the setup and even the floor to try to learn more for future races.
“I have not been feeling too comfortable in the car recently so we changed set-up and changed floor to try and understand some things further, which should benefit us for the future,” Gasly addressed the media post-race.
Despite knowing the race would be difficult, Gasly said there were small bright moments in the midfield, even if they weren’t in positions that score points.
“We knew the race would be complicated and it was nice to have a few battles out there even if it was not for the points paying positions.
“I know the team is working exceptionally hard at the moment and we all know we are nowhere near where we should be right now.”
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Colapinto fights hard but pace lacking
Team-mate Franco Colapinto delivered a more competitive showing, finishing 16th and gaining places early with a strong start.
“It was a long race with lots of close battles out there, which was fun but, ultimately, we didn’t have the pace and lost some places towards the end on older tyres,” the young Argentine said.
He also noted that tyre degradation and blue-flag traffic made things tougher in the final laps:
“We were running quite well in the midfield pack on the Softs at the time and knowing how difficult it is to overtake at this track, we pitted early trying to undercut and use track position to make up places.
“We tried our best to manage the tyres but with a lot of degradation and having to also move offline for blue flags, it made it difficult to hold off the cars on fresher tyres in the closing laps.
“It was not what we wanted but we just have to keep pushing and better results will come.”
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Hope for Austin, pressure to evolve
While the Singapore result deepens Alpine’s woes, Gasly remains cautiously optimistic about the next race.
He expects Austin might suit their car better than recent street circuits:
“I am confident we can do better in Austin next time out compared to the last few races where the circuit characteristics have not suited our package – especially with the lack of grip and bumps that are common on street circuits.”
For now, Alpine find themselves at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship with only 20 points, and desperate to rediscover form.
Can Austin be the start of a resurgence for the French team?
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