Yahoo Autos Gasly wants to clear the air before Alpine duo line up together
Pierre Gasly believes Alpine should hold talks with its two drivers ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix as he will start alongside teammate Esteban Ocon in Barcelona.
Ocon was penalized for making contact with Gasly on the opening lap of the race in Monaco two rounds ago, with Alpine and Gasly stating the attempted overtake went against team instructions. The pair will start from seventh and eighth in Spain as Ocon gains a spot due to Sergio Perez’s grid penalty, and Gasly wants talks to take place before the race.
“I think we should [discuss it], based on the recent events,” Gasly said. “As a team, it would be normal, but as a professional I know what I’ve got to do and always kept it very clean — and I always keep it very clean.”
However, Ocon believes talks are not needed and says it’s not unusual for the Alpine drivers to be close to each other on the grid.
“How many times have we started together?” Ocon said. “It has happened once every 30 times. I don’t expect anything tomorrow; it should be fine.”
Away from the focus on the driver dynamic, the result marks a surprisingly competitive qualifying session for Alpine with both drivers in the top eight, and Gasly says the team needs to understand why it has been so strong in Spain.
“I think no one really saw that coming,” Gasly said. “I always told them it’s nicer when we have to explain why you overperform rather than underperform, but it’s as important for us to find these answers because coming here we definitely didn’t expect to have a Q3 car. Since yesterday, there was some performance and even today it was a very clean session.
“Looking at the gaps, we’re only a tenth and a half from Lewis [Hamilton], and even Carlos [Sainz] — Ferrari managed to win a race not a long time ago — so I must say it’s very strange, but we take it. It was a good quali and I think a very big, good boost of motivation for the team.”
