Pierre Gasland take the baton -and the responsibility- of Fernando Alonso in Alpine and he is aware that he has to look in the mirror of the two-time world champion of Formula 1 for, in addition to beating Esteban Ocon (his childhood archenemy), establish himself as the leader of the French team.
“More than prepared, i’m beyond excited. Alpine has had a fantastic season, finishing fourth in the championship, beating McLaren”, he pointed out in French in statements collected by ‘Motorsport’.
In fact, although no date is set, the goal is ambitious: stay ahead of Red Bull, Ferrari and/or Mercedes.
“So it’s clear they have a good package, and the next target is the big three. So we will try to push as much as possible, but I am sure that incredible results will be achieved with the team”, he affirms.
That confidence in the team and the car lies, according to him, in what was demonstrated by Fernando Alonso‘forgetting’ that Esteban Ocon he was ahead of the Asturian. What a coincidence (or not).
“I’m very excited because Alpine seems to be very competitive. I think on some tracks that were pretty close [de los líderes]. In Brazil, Alonso fought in the last stint for the top five places. They have shown extremely fast pace on some occasions, and if they can make a step up, it will be even better,” says Gasly.
“So I’m very excited to get in the car, start working for next year and learn about all the developments that are being done for the car,” he added.
The reality is that, despite the fact that Ocon surpassed Alonso in the Drivers’ Championship, Fernando has suffered many more reliability problems than Esteban and, furthermore, he has shown a much higher level than his partner, consecrating feats such as the front row at the Canadian Grand Prix. Gasly knows what he is talking about, it only remains to be seen if he will be amused by his ‘compi’.