Pierre Gasly has backed Alpine’s decision to pursue a radically new Formula 1 car concept for 2024, arguing that the team has to “take risks” to achieve “bigger rewards”.
Having slumped to sixth place in the Constructors’ standings last term, Alpine has prioritised an “aggressive” reset with a revamped philosophy on its A524 challenger.
Technical Director Matt Harman detailed that the side has overhauled its machine “front to back” in order to avoid ending up in a repeat development cul-de-sac such as last season.
Among the changes, the Enstone-based squad has revised its entire chassis, designed a fresh rear suspension and committed to a redevelopment of the floor.
However, both drivers have been made aware that a switch in design could lead to Alpine beginning the season on the back foot as it endeavours to understand its latest car.
“I think it’s a complete new concept which was driven by a lack of performance last year from the car we had and it’s just coming to the conclusion that we were kind of plateauing and could not really unlock more potential from the concept we had,” Gasly said at the launch of Alpine’s A524 charger.
“So it started from a brand new page and we were inspired with some of our learnings and some of our competitions. I think we’ve got to be open-minded. We know when we come with a new concept, it obviously comes with a lot of challenges. So we’ve got to be patient.
“We know the start of the year might not be as good as we like. We’ve just got to be aware of that and then try to unlock that potential that we believe these cars have as fast as possible.”
When asked if there were any parts that could contribute to a sizeable performance gain, Gasly replied: I’ve seen it all and it’s a big change. It’s a big change from front wings, suspensions, bodywork, the old package, the PU package and how integrated it is inside the car, the chassis itself.
“There is not one single piece that is going to be the magic trick, but it’s all together and I’m really looking forward to see what it gives.”
With this season’s cars set to form the base for next year as the focus turns towards the 2026 regulations, Gasly has supported Alpine’s choice to be brave over the winter.
“As Matt said, the only thing that remains from last year is the steering wheel. So when you start from a blank piece of paper, from scratch basically, there’s always more risk,” Gasly added.
“But then, you’ve got to take risk at some point if you want to get bigger rewards, so that’s the strategy we decided to go for.”
Despite being placed to provide input into Alpine’s 2024 project, the marque’s pursuit of a revised concept has left Gasly to admit he will be forced to adapt to a new car again.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we had much impact on that,” the Frenchman outlined. “It was a complete new concept, so we didn’t have much impact with Esteban.
“It’s constant feedback about what we want, what we need in the car to go faster, but based on last year’s car, this is a completely different concept, so they kind of get an idea of what car behaviour we want, but when you start from scratch like that, there’s so much unknown that I think all basically come into play once we test the car in Bahrain and tell them what we need, what are the weaknesses, what are the strengths of that car and what they’re going to work on.”
