Gasly’s optimism that “pieces falling in the right place” at Alpine seems well placed

An effervescent Pierre Gasly believes that Alpine is operating at “the best” he has seen since joining the Anglo-French outfit in 2023, marking a considerable sea change in the team’s fortunes compared to its flat-footed start to last season.

It was only 12 months ago that Alpine began a campaign with an overweight car that could barely break out of the opening stage of qualifying, having offered a clattering hint that its weight-stripping processes had gone awry by ditching its Bleu de France livery for a barely painted scheme on its A524.

This led to the resignations of technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics guru Dirk de Beer, who had fallen on their swords when last year’s car occupied the final row of the grid in Bahrain’s season opener.

But the green shoots of revival have since sprung. The team was opportunistic in its hiring of David Sanchez as executive technical director, as the Frenchman had failed to find a home at McLaren and lasted just three months in Woking. Further off-track shuffles did, at face value, appear to be ‘same old Alpine’ as Bruno Famin left his team principal role after a year at the helm and ceded control to Hitech’s Oliver Oakes.

The headliner was, indeed, the reinstatement of Flavio Briatore as an authoritative voice. Billed as the executive advisor, Briatore effectively operates as the F1 equivalent of a “director of football” – with Oakes as his head coach and tasked with running the racing operations. It’s a two-pronged approach that has worked for McLaren, where Zak Brown handles the commercial and shareholder interest, leaving Andrea Stella to get on with running the team.

With the triumvirate of Briatore, Oakes, and Sanchez involved in reviving the Renault works team’s ailing fortunes, it now starts the year in a much better position. Pre-season testing looked encouraging, and appeared to carry on from where Gasly left off at the end of 2024, when the team’s late-season developments ensured he could pose frequently among the front third of the order.

That continual improvement, Gasly says, has carried through into the winter – and he believes that the Bahrain test showed that the team had been reinvigorated.

“I must say I’m feeling good,” Gasly revealed ahead of this weekend’s 2025 opener in Melbourne. “Let’s say over the past two years, winter testing offered quite a lot of challenges for us as a team and then going this year in Bahrain, it felt like we started off in a much better place. I haven’t tried to read too much into all the data, I know there’s tons of stuff out, but it’s like when you know that 10 kg can make such a big difference.

“I feel the team is in a great place. New people in the team and the current ones are all supporting a very positive dynamic and momentum from the end of last year. So it feels all the pieces are falling in the right places. I think in terms of structure as a team, in terms of operation from what I’m seeing back at the factory, that’s the best I’ve seen the team since I arrived – in terms of, processes and mindsets and the way we are approaching the season.”

Although the incoming grandes fromages left their own mark on the team, credit must be given to Famin’s wide-reaching reforms before he departed the F1 set-up. When Harman and de Beer left, Famin spied the opportunity to reshuffle the technical deck – again adopting the McLaren approach of a three-pronged leadership structure.

Here, Alpine promoted from within; David Wheater was installed as the technical director for the aerodynamics department, Joe Burnell headed up the engineering department, and Ciaron Pilbeam took control of the new performance department.

Sanchez joined as the final piece of that particular jigsaw, offering a feedback loop with the heads of department to share ideas and ensure all departments could be linked together.

David Sanchez, Alpine Executive Technical Director

Photo by: Alpine

Gasly reckons that this evolution vindicated his decision to commit to Alpine, and explained that the A525 appears to have taken the late-season qualities from last year’s car while ironing out a handful of issues that caused him grief under traction.

“I know I’ve mentioned 10 months ago that I could see a lot of positive changes, even though we were at the back of the field. I could see there was a good change happening, which is the reason why I committed to this team because I could see all this great stuff and I’m pleased to see that it’s a constant evolution. I think it’s very clear where we’re heading,” he said.

“It was the case at the end of last year as well. I would say at the end of last year we got in a better place, but there were still a few things on the car which I didn’t like, which didn’t allow me to have the traction I wanted. We know we’ve improved a couple of things, there might be other stuff which might come with some compromises on some other tracks, so that’s why I don’t want to be too outspoken for now.

“But I think we start with a base that will give us some tools to work with for the start of the season. I’m as excited as you guys to see where we’re going to end up and where we’re going to fight. But it’s a much better place than 12 months ago, for sure.”

The one question that Gasly has is where Alpine slots in versus the top four teams; he expects “the status quo” to remain with McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes at the front, but feels that the midfielders can make a genuine step forward into the advantage conferred upon the big-hitters in last year’s championship. 

But the team has its own rivals to battle against; Aston Martin, Williams, Haas, and Racing Bulls are all vying to be in that mix, and all indications are that the midfield skirmish will become even more intense than last year.

Regardless, Alpine now feels that it is in a position to continue the momentum it built over last year – there was more to its progression than the Brazil 2-3 after all, and fighting for the points at the start of the year represents a significant, and much needed, turnaround.