Yesterday at 12:00
Pierre Gasly is confident his "time will come" to challenge for
race victories and titles with Alpine, when the new power unit
regulations are introduced next year. Gasly is currently Alpine's
only confirmed driver for 2026, and has been busy working with the
French outfit on its car for F1's new era. The Frenchman will lead
Alpine into the new era for not only F1 but the team in general, as
it will become a Mercedes customer outfit due to axing its engine
programme. Deciding to axe its engine programme is just one of the
many things to have unfolded at the Enstone-based outfit in the
last 12 months, a period which has been turbulent for Alpine.
Despite having only joined the squad at the start of 2023, Gasly
has already experienced significant changes to the team's senior
figures and operations, whilst also becoming its lead driver. He
has been responsible for all of Alpine's points this season, and is
pleased by how he has become integral to how the outfit operates.
"I think I'm very happy and pleased with the work I do with the
team," Gasly told RacingNews365 , during an exclusive interview.
"So in terms of understanding what I want, the efficiency of what
I need, the communication is very clear, transparent. "At the end
of the day, I've done two seasons with them with a lot of changes,
instability, etc. I sort of feel that now, at least because I
remained the whole time, the work I do with the people around me
becomes more consistent, more fluid and flowing, and that just
gives me the possibility to be more consistent across the whole
year. "I obviously know more in depth, the sort of limitation with
the car, what clearly doesn't work because it hasn't been working
since I joined, what seems to work a little bit more, and with the
team also coming my way, it's really like kind of trying to find
that sweet spot all together, which we managed to achieve." Gasly
eyes victories Whilst some drivers have been skeptical when looking
ahead to the new regulations next year, Gasly has discussed it in a
positive light. The 29-year-old views it as a huge opportunity for
Alpine, to the extent that he believes he can become world champion
in 2026. Gasly has improved significantly over the years since his
demotion from Red Bull mid-2019, and is confident he could be
winning races if given the correct car, something Alpine is working
on for next season. "So that's why I'm quite confident after
exactly what you said," added Gasly, addressing being asked that he
feels ready to win. "When I'm finishing P6 in Silverstone, if I
have a race-winning car in my hands, I know I will win the race.
"At the end, I'm P6 I go back home. So you could say it's only a P6
and nobody really cares about the P6 which in some ways is true.
But then at the same time, I know my time will come. "And you know
what I'm working on at the moment, with Flavio [Briatore] to make
sure I get a race winning package for next year."
