From a big interview with Gasly on AMuS (German).
https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... interview/
Alpha Tauri dropped a lot from sixth to ninth in the team championship. We spoke to the Frenchman about a complicated season,
the lessons learned and the move to Alpine in a factory team.
Can you describe how the summer went from your perspective and how you then ended up at Alpine?
Gasly: I was in Greece [mid Aug] on the first day of summer vacation. I needed a break because the season wasn't going my way. I needed to switch off. On the first day, I had my first contact with Alpine. At that time to Laurent Rossi. I passed everything on to my management. The talks started between Alpine, Red Bull, myself. We sounded out what could become of it. A summer in which I wanted to switch off turned into the opposite. I was in contact with Formula 1 practically every day, and followed everything. What the situation was, and how the deal was developing. As it got closer, it was about the terms of the contract. I knew, of course, Red Bull's position on wanting to keep me. So I knew it wasn't going to be easy talks with Helmut [Marko]. But he understood how important this step was for me. Then we made it work. It was a win-win deal for everyone.
What weaknesses did the Alpha Tauri have in particular?
Gasly: Normal problems that affected others like porpoising. The bending of the underbody. Trying to make the car a little stiffer in that area, and maximizing the aero platform.
Gasly: I would say, and this is my personal opinion, that we had deficiencies in the efficiency area. From the aerodynamics point of view. We drove with too much drag for the downforce that the car generates. And there was just a general lack of downforce. That affected other areas.
Gasly: The car slid more, the tires heated up more. Then you slide even more, and you have more thermal-related wear. A small step in downforce has a big impact on your overall performance in the race. I do think the car had potential. But what also weakened us: We were very much over the minimum weight all season. We're talking about a few tenths of a second. We didn't manage to shed that excess weight. If we'd had those few tenths at the start of the season, we'd have been in the front midfield in at least the first eight races. And that would have had an impact on the final standings.
Unfortunately, our overweight didn't change at all.
The car wasn't always reliable. In addition, there were strategic mistakes or breakdowns during pit stops. From the outside, it looked like you were pretty frustrated at times. You also criticized the team on the radio, for example in the U.S. after a brake problem in qualifying.
Gasly: I don't think I criticized it. If I complain about the brakes on the radio, for example, that's not direct criticism. That's a complaint that I include myself in as a team member.
Translated with
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