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Pierre Gasly was precise in analysing his qualifying performance ahead of the 2024 Chinese GP by attributing a majority of the deficit to his tools. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda, the Alpine driver felt the aerodynamic package on his car made a significant difference in his performance and the gap to his teammate Esteban Ocon.
Prior to the sprint shootout, Esteban Ocon’s car was fitted with a new chassis and some aerodynamic upgrades. A significant problem with Alpine’s lack of performance was its car weight which has been stripped off significantly in its upgraded version.
Pierre Gasly will have the same upgrade on his car in Miami. However, in qualifying he managed to qualify 15th whereas his teammate managed to qualify 13th. The French duo were split by roughly two-tenths of a second in their lap time.
Explaining his session, Pierre Gasly felt the gap between the two Alpine drivers was attributed entirely to the upgrade and chassis. According to the data he reviewed, it seems that the new package has shown positive signs. However, the Frenchman felt that he had given the second session of qualifying his best shot.
Asked to explain the gap between his teammate and himself, Pierre Gasly said:
“Should I tell you the truth, you'll call me cocky.”
Probed further by Sportskeeda on his performance and the gap to his teammate, he replied:
“You make whatever you want from my answer. But yeah with the aero package I have, I wouldn’t have changed the position but a P13, so, yeah, it's a couple of tenths. It's weight saving and some improved aero which we see on the data and at the end of the day. What’s important is that it's working and from the data, it shows it does what it's supposed to do.”
“So that's positive obviously we still need to keep working and find more because it's not like it's changing massively where we are. But it's definitely getting us closer to where we are, where we want to be. And yeah for me this weekend on my side, it's been quite clear that the target is just to try to maximize what we have and you know try to yeah do the best we can. And today that's why we didn’t get into Q2.”
Asked when he would get the new chassis and upgrades on his car, Pierre Gasly said:
Miami”
Pierre Gasly believes the Chinese GP qualifying performance was to his maximum
Pierre Gasly believes his performance in the Chinese GP was the maximum he pushed the potential of his car. Esteban Ocon’s car was upgraded in the sprint shootout as well. He claimed they opted for a more aggressive setup to make gains, but it did not pay off as well in qualifying ahead of the main race.
Asked how he managed to outqualify his teammate in the sprint despite the lack of upgrades in his car, Pierre Gasly said while speaking to media, including Sportskeeda:
“Yeah you ask him. No I think yesterday I mean the gains, as I said the gains are there. So we're not concerned that the upgrade is not bringing what's it's bringing what it's supposed to to do. But then yeah, I mean on my side, I'm just focusing on my job and lets say Esteban is doing his thing as well.”
Explaining his qualifying lap further, Pierre Gasly said:
“Yeah, it was really good. I mean especially Q1 to get through, I think in P10 and so ahead of Esteban and also in Q2, it was a very strong lap. No, honestly I'm pleased with what we did also.
"There was a tiny bit more after the spring, we went a bit more aggressive with the setup and I was having more bottoming through turn 8. While I was losing the car every time from touching there. So it was, yeah, it was definitely worth being aggressive because we got nothing to lose, but no, apart from that, it was very good luck.”
Pierre Gasly has been out-qualified by Ocon for the fifth weekend in a row. He has managed to outperform his teammate in a race once at the Australian GP. Without a contract at the end of 2025, the former AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing driver is under pressure to deliver to retain his place on the grid and in the sport.
The performance of the Alpine car hasn’t helped his cause but beating his teammate is going to be critical to turning around his season. Both the Alpine drivers are yet to score their first points, which places their team at the bottom of the grid along with Sauber.
