Pierre Gasly has labelled McLaren’s progress during the Formula 1 2023 season a “mystery” but one that he believes his Alpine team is capable of replicating in the coming years.
Alpine entered the last campaign aiming to consolidate the fourth position it secured in 2022 while also reducing the huge deficit that existed to the modern top three sides.
But the Anglo-French marque endured a challenging season that saw it drop down to sixth place in the Constructors’ standings as both Aston Martin and McLaren surged clear.
Despite achieving a podium at Zandvoort, Gasly concedes that Alpine had loftier ambitions heading into the second year under the current technical regulations.
”I look back on the season with mixed feelings,” Gasly told Auto Motor und Sport.
“The expectations were greater. We wanted to build on what the team achieved the year before and at least finish fourth.
“Unfortunately, the car didn’t live up to our expectations. Or the others simply did a better job. McLaren and Aston Martin have clearly overtaken us.
“We wanted to regularly fight for places in the top five and get closer to the top, but that was only possible in the rarest of cases.”
Expanding on the reasons for Alpine failing to scale the heights expected, Gasly pinpointed the lacklustre electrical deployment from its Renault power unit as one aspect that limited its competitiveness.
However, the Frenchman also noted that the team’s aerodynamics department at Enstone fell short of its targets and was unable to recover the deficit during the campaign.
“We lack power, especially when it comes to electrical energy. In terms of aerodynamic development, we missed our goals in further development,” he revealed.
“We made some good upgrades, but it was nothing compared to McLaren, for example.
“Aston Martin got off to a better start to the season than us. We got closer in some races at the end of the season, which shows that we have improved, but not as much as we would have liked.”
McLaren had opened the season battling to even escape Q1 eliminations in qualifying after taking the decision to switch development direction late in the winter.
But the launch of a substantial upgrade package from the Austrian Grand Prix in July elevated the Woking-based squad into a position to contend for regular podiums.
Gasly insists Alpine should use McLaren’s remarkable mid-season turnaround in which it became Red Bull’s most consistent challenger as a source of motivation.
”McLaren is a mystery to us,” he claimed. “They were two seconds away from pole position in Saudi Arabia and ended up with a car that could take pole position or the front row of the grid.
“I see this promotion within just six months as a stimulation for our team. This shows: It is possible. Even under a budget cap.
“With the people we have in Enstone and Viry, that should be possible for us too.
Regarding the Enstone camp’s expectations for 2024, Gasly asserts that Alpine’s target is to reclaim fourth position. But he acknowledges that it will be a tough task.
“We would like to take back fourth place as a team,” he outlined. “That won’t be easy because the gap to the fourth team is quite large.
“You can’t even say for sure who has the fourth fastest car. Sometimes it’s Ferrari, sometimes Mercedes, sometimes McLaren.
“In any case, we should be able to shorten the distance to the cars in front of us. Regardless of where we end up. We should be able to fight for the top five and the podium more than just twice.”
Nonetheless, Gasly was satisfied with his own personal performance in his debut year outside of the Red Bull stable, outscoring team-mate Esteban Ocon by four points.
“I knew it would be a challenging year for me,” he admitted. “After 10 years in the Red Bull family, I drove for another team for the first time.
“I knew that it would take a lot of work, a lot of effort and time for me to find my way around. That is a positive aspect. I managed to quickly gain a foothold in the team and deliver good performances.
“Even at the beginning of the season, when the collaboration wasn’t working as well as I wanted it to. In the third race in Melbourne I was already fighting for a top five place.
“The team quickly understood what I needed and what I wanted from the car. This ultimately led to us being extremely efficient in the second half of the season.
“The car wasn’t fast enough, but we made the most of it most of the time.”
