Alpine’s drivers are resigned to a difficult start to the new season and believe it could take a while to turn the team’s performance around.
The team overhauled its chassis design after falling from fourth to sixth in the constructors championship over the last two seasons. However the A524 was the slowest car in pre-season testing.
Pierre Gasly suspects Alpine will begin the new year on the back foot.
“We just focused on ourselves, did our own programme without too much stress and conducted so many tests as we learn more and more about our overall car package,” he explained. “I expect it will take some time for us to unlock the performance we want from the car but that is no surprise given it’s a
new concept.
“I’m remaining realistic. I know it will not be an easy start for us but what is most important is to keep identifying the key areas of work and to learn and progress.”
His team mate Esteban Ocon said he has already seen signs of progress from the A524. “The car improved from the first to the last day in testing, so we’re hoping to see similar improvements over the course of the race weekend,” he said.
“We know what we’re working with heading into the opening race of the season, and we must extract the maximum from our package to give us the best possible chance of coming away with something from the weekend.”
“It’s difficult to gauge the pecking order after such a short testing schedule, with teams running different programmes and fuel loads,” he added. “We just focused on ourselves and gathered as much data as possible.
“The same also applies for this weekend in Bahrain. We know we’re entering this season slightly on the back foot with the new car concept and the team is working incredibly hard to bring more performance to the car in the coming races.”
His words were echoed by team principal Bruno Famin, who took over from Otmar Szafnauer last year seeking to reinvigorate Alpine’s performance. Famin called the team’s test “productive” but accepted this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix will be challenging for them.
“We knew it was not going to be an easy start to the season. Accepting these challenges is all part of racing in Formula 1 and it is important that we all push very hard to develop the A524 in the coming weeks and months.”
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Formula 1
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