Alpine hoped to progress thanks to the new features installed on Pierre Gasly’s A526 at Zandvoort. Only 11th in qualifying, the Frenchman acknowledges that the team still needs to understand how to exploit them.
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The developments brought by Alpine for the Dutch Grand Prix have not yet produced the expected results. Pierre Gasly failed to reach Q3 on Saturday at Zandvoort and will have to settle for 11th place on the grid.
However, the Frenchman had new parts on his A526, unlike his teammate Franco Colapinto. After securing eighth position in the Sprint qualifying on Friday, Gasly hoped to confirm the progress seen.
But the behavior of his car ultimately proved more tricky during the main qualifying session.
“It was more complicated today in terms of balance, I was less comfortable and I will have to understand what happened, how we could have done better, and understand the new parts, even if we don’t have all the answers” admits Gasly.
Alpine still needs to understand its new features
The goal of the developments is to allow Alpine to get closer to the leading group in the midfield. At Zandvoort, the initial findings remain mixed.
Gasly believes the team still needs to determine the settings that allow proper exploitation of these new parts. His 11th place nevertheless shows that the A526 remains in the fight with Audi and Racing Bulls.
A starting position that leaves the Frenchman hopeful of scoring some points on Sunday, even if he has little illusion about the top eight places.
“Despite a tricky session, we are close to the top 10. We are fighting with Audi and Racing Bulls, we will start tomorrow just outside the points” he continues.
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“We know the top 8 is untouchable, so we will try to fight for ninth and tenth positions.”
Gasly will indeed start behind Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad, respectively ninth and tenth, which should place Alpine at the heart of the battle for the last available points.
Colapinto believes he has maximized his potential
On the other side of the garage, Franco Colapinto had to deal with a less developed version of the A526. The Argentine set the 14th time in qualifying and finds it hard to hope for much better given the equipment he had.
“I think we maximized what we had. We worked well with the team to be close to Audi and Racing Bulls. It will be difficult to beat them tomorrow” explains Colapinto.
Some adjustments nevertheless allowed his Alpine to regain more aerodynamic downforce over the weekend.
“We will try to work on this basis because we have maximized what the car could do. We made some changes, nothing huge, but we regained some aerodynamic downforce and that’s what we need to find.”
Alpine will therefore approach the Grand Prix with two different objectives. Gasly will try to take advantage of his 11th place to enter the top 10, while Colapinto will seek to progress from the seventh row. For the French team, the race will also be a new opportunity to gather data to better understand its latest developments.
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