Pierre Gasly has revealed fuel saving during the Miami Grand Prix cost him a top six place on Sunday.
With qualifying being interrupted due to a red flag late in Q3, Gasly started in fifth before running inside the top six. But, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc overtook him towards the end of the race.
“We tried to do the best we could during our race,” said Gasly to the media. “I had a great start and tried to keep up with Sainz and Alonso in front of me, but unfortunately, they were faster than us.
“I was running in P6 with 15 laps to go, and I needed to do a lot of fuel saving, which was a little annoying when you have a Ferrari and Mercedes behind catching.
“So one side a bit gutted to lose on P6, on the other, if we fight one Ferrari and one Mercedes so close from the chequered flag, it really shows we’ve made a big step forward.”
Gasly disappointed with start to 2023
The start of 2023 had been far from smooth for Alpine, as not only did they fall behind Aston Martin, but also lost ground to McLaren, who struggled for pace in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The lack of results have caused Laurent Rossi to add further pressure, lambasting Alpine’s start to 2023 on Canal+, calling it “amateurish” and demanding an improvement to the team’s work ethic and mindset.
“Everyone in the team, I think [is] all disappointed with the first four races,” said Gasly. “We didn’t capitalise on all the opportunities we had, and it was good to score with both cars.
“Obviously, we want more points and fight with Mercedes and Ferrari, but I think today we showed we’re not too far from that.
“Hopefully, we can build up from there and close the gap to the four teams ahead of us.”
Driver introductions need tweaking for the future
Before the Miami GP, driver introductions took place, with all 20 introduced by American rapper LL Cool J.
Although some drivers, such as Hamilton, liked the idea, his Mercedes teammate George Russell and Lando Norris expressed their dislike of them, particularly due to the distraction they posed.
“It was too long, not enough time to jump in the car,” said Gasly. “I don’t how the other drivers feel, but [I] feel like you need to be down in your bubble before you jump in.
“Overall, it was good to try, and I am sure we’ll make small tweaks for next time.”
