Alpine’s Pierre Gasly feels “very disappointed” by how his 2023 Australian Grand Prix finished in retirement amidst a farcical conclusion to the race.
Gasly had enjoyed a solid race in fifth position battling Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll until Sainz spun Fernando Alonso on a second standing start of the race on Lap 57, which caused mayhem during which Gasly collided with his Alpine teammate, Esteban Ocon at Turn 2.
Both Alpine drivers were consequently eliminated from the race on the spot which left Gasly feeling “very disappointed” to not score points, having shown “really good race pace” whilst battling Sainz hard in the closing laps for fourth place.
On what it means to leave Australia without any points, Gasly commented: “For us to be so close to scoring ten points and leaving without any is a bitter one for us to take.”
The ex AlphaTauri driver however found positives from the race and collision as he added: “Right now, we must focus on the positives and that is how we managed our race and how we were able to take the fight to our rivals ahead.
“I’m glad both Esteban and I are OK after the incident. As a team, we’ll move on and keep focused for the next race.”
Ocon echoed Gasly’s deflated mood as he added that it was “a real shame” for both cars to collide in the manner that they did, having displayed “great pace” across the weekend.
The 26 year-old Frenchman also believed that he “had the performance to be fighting the Ferraris and the Aston Martins,” which makes Alpine’s double retirement “a tough one for all of us.”
Reflecting upon his collision with Gasly, Ocon added: “The restart at the end was very chaotic and everything went so fast. The clash with Pierre was unfortunate and I’m glad we’re both OK. We’ve spoken about it, and we’re all good and there’s no hard feelings.”
Team Principal, Otmar Szafnauer added that Alpine “can be satisfied and positive” with their race performance, despite the “disappointing” feeling of not achieving any points amidst the late chaos.
Szafnauer though acknowledged that there are positives to take from the race as a whole, as he continued: “We showed we can race with our close rivals ahead and, indeed, close cars down and be clinical when it counts.
“Pierre drove very well today, running much of the race in fifth place and in the fight for a podium alongside the Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari. We must take the positives of this and use it as motivation going forwards.”
Szafnauer also felt that the collision was purely “unfortunate” as he iterated that this tough result will unite the team more, as he said: “We’ll keep moving forwards and these hard moments are what brings the team closer together.”
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