{"id":299240,"date":"2023-12-13T13:09:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T13:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=299240"},"modified":"2023-12-13T13:09:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T13:09:15","slug":"were-not-best-friends-f1-star-pierre-gasly-on-esteban-ocon-and-alpine-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/racing\/f1\/were-not-best-friends-f1-star-pierre-gasly-on-esteban-ocon-and-alpine-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re not best friends\u2019 – F1 star Pierre Gasly on Esteban Ocon and Alpine debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pierre Gasly has fought hard for his place among the best drivers in the world on the\u00a0Formula 1\u00a0grid. The French star excelled with AlphaTauri either side of a difficult stint at\u00a0Red Bull\u00a0before joining Alpine ahead of the 2023 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paired with compatriot Esteban Ocon, Gasly finished ahead of his teammate but still missed out on a top-10 berth in the Drivers\u2019 Standings while Alpine finished sixth in the Constructors\u2019 Championship. For Gasly, whose third-place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix was his first podium since Azerbaijan 2021, 2023 was a year of learning and understanding the new machinery at his disposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased. It was obviously going to be a challenge starting with a new team in a new organisation with a new engineer – there were a lot of things to adapt myself to, including the car, which is very different than what I used before,\u201d Gasly told Daily Express Sport. \u201cWe had much bigger ambitions and targets at the start of the year which were compromised because the car didn\u2019t perform as well as we would have liked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a bit of time to find my feet properly, but month after month, I could feel the direction we were heading and I finished the year strongly. I’m very happy with the foundations we built for next year, and I know we’re just going to start from a much stronger point. We just need a more competitive car.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Back in April, Gasly found himself in fifth place when racing resumed following a second red flag at the Australian Grand Prix. But rather than compete with\u00a0Max Verstappen\u00a0and\u00a0Lewis Hamilton\u00a0as he chased a second win of his career, Gasly\u2019s day turned from one of potential celebration to abject disappointment; a collision with Ocon condemned both Alpine cars to a premature retirement.<\/p>\n

Plenty could be written about the relationship between Gasly and Ocon. Alpine implemented strategies that favored Ocon throughout the season, including the Japanese Grand Prix that left Gasly frustrated. When asked about his teammate, Gasly smiled and said: \u201cWe are very different. It\u2019s no surprise we\u2019re not best friends; it\u2019s a very professional relationship, and I think we manage it extremely well. He wants to win and I want to be the best in Formula 1, so we have a common target which pushes us to work together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are quite different personality wise and driving wise, but I like that we request similar characteristics from the car so we\u2019re pushing the team in the same direction, which is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gasly is refreshingly honest, happily dissecting Alpine, Ocon and the 2023 season on video call while waiting for his flight to Paris from Abu Dhabi. He is an expressive person, and one that is a far cry from the man who timidly struggled at Red Bull.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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