Pierre Gasly was running well in Australia before suffering a huge crash at the end of the race. The Frenchman was able to keep up and compete with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari at Albert Park, showing impressive pace.
Gasly’s impressive performance in Australia could partially be linked to the four DRS zones on the circuit. This allowed the Frenchman to keep up with faster cars on the straights, despite losing out to them through the corners.
Cars that drove through these zones with open wings were able to gain one second per lap on average.
Alpine sporting director Alan Permane spoke about the DRS zones, saying:
“Even if the car in front of you can drive half a second faster under the same conditions, you can keep up. Sainz pulled us. We just couldn’t let it be demolished.”
However, at a track like the one in Baku, drivers will not get this advantage. While there are two long DRS zones on the track to aid overtaking, faster cars can easily slip out of the DRS range through the twisty middle section of the track.
Baku’s track will pose a new challenge to Gasly and Co., as they will have to be consistently faster to keep up.
Pierre Gasly confident in Alpine’s development strategy
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly is optimistic about the team’s ability to progress towards the front of the grid with the help of upgrades.
Despite encountering a red flag restart that spoiled his strong performance in Australia, Gasly has made a satisfactory start to his career at Alpine, scoring points in the first race of the season in Bahrain and keeping up with his teammate Esteban Ocon in the second race.
While Gasly has seamlessly integrated into the team, Alpine are yet to meet the pre-season targets they set for themselves, including consolidating last season’s fourth-place finish and closing the gap to the front.
However, Gasly remains confident in the team’s ability to narrow the gap with its upgrades, citing their success in achieving similar progress last season.
He said:
“Yeah, I’m confident. I think the team definitely showed last year they were probably the best team in terms of development through the year, so there’s a good understanding and correlation between the upgrades they’re bringing on the race track.”
It will be interesting to follow Pierre Gasly’s stint in Baku as the sport prepares for the 2023 Azerbaijan GP.