Image courtesy of AlphaTauri
Gasly hopes AT03 lets him ‘fight at the very front’
Pierre Gasly is preparing himself for all eventualities in 2022 but hopes the new AlphaTauri AT03 is a car that allows him to “fight at the very front” in Formula 1.
The Frenchman has impressed throughout his time with AlphaTauri -- winning in Monza in 2020 and scoring two further podiums for the team -- but struggled when promoted to Red Bull in 2019. His experience and form has seen him lead the team and he finished in the top six on nine occasions last season, but he hopes the AT03 will be even more competitive this year.
“My approach will be the same as the one I adopted last year,” Gasly said. “I will be trying to build on the run I had of very good results and to continue to be on top of my game with the car I have. I really hope that this is a year when I can fight at the very front, to finish regularly in the top five and even higher if the car is good enough for that.
“We must be prepared to deal with whatever situations arise. So, mentally I've prepared myself to deal with any possible scenario and personally, I will be pushing the team to always do its best. Last year we came very close to fifth place in the constructors' and it would be super to achieve that this year. It's too early to say if that will be possible but I will always give it my best shot and get the most out of our car.”
https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1493203382349225985?s=20&t=qV1149BXyhgYzI2D1HE9eg
Acknowledging the opportunities that the new regulations provide, Gasly is unsure where AlphaTauri will stack up at pre-season testing but believes the season overall could have some unexpected results.
“I think we will have to tackle it with an open mind, being ready for any eventuality. It's a fresh start for all the teams, starting pretty much from zero as we are really looking at a clean-sheet-of-paper scenario. It will be a big challenge for the teams to work out how to build the best car possible to comply with the new regulations.
"I hope that it works really well for us. I have no doubts about our team's abilities and, as of now, they are quite pleased with the work they have done. Like everyone, they've been working on it for many months now, but it's difficult to have an idea of what we can expect until the car goes out on track in Barcelona for the first time. Then we will get an idea of how the car behaves and how we look compared to the others. I'm sure this season will be full of surprises.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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