Pierre Gasly has only scored seven World Championship points this year – the team now needs to ‘score points as quickly as possible’ to prevent the gap from widening too much
Seven races, seven points: Alpine and Pierre Gasly’s record is sobering and could soon become a problem for the French team. “It’s important for us to score points as quickly as possible,” Gasly warns.
The 29-year-old is sounding the alarm and making it clear that the team doesn’t have much time left to catch up in the highly competitive midfield. “Last year, we made up 30 points at the end of the season,” Gasly recalls. “So, I would never say never.”
However, something needs to happen quickly, because Racing Bulls in particular is “very competitive,” says the Alpine driver. The balance of power could change as early as this weekend in Barcelona, when the teams bring new updates and the FIA’s stress tests become significantly stricter.
“I’m sure it will vary from team to team,” predicts Gasly. ‘Hopefully, that will work in our favor.’ However, Racing Bulls currently seems to have ‘a strong package,’ says the Alpine driver, who recalls that Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar regularly reached Q3 in the first three races of the year.
The 29-year-old sees the strengths of the Racing Bull in its mechanical grip. “In the past, I think the package was more geared towards tracks with low downforce,” he explains. “And they’ve just made a pretty big step with the car. We’ve got some catching up to do.”
Mistake costs possible points finish
It was all the more frustrating that Gasly ruined his own chances of scoring points at Imola of all places. The Frenchman slid off the track after a duel with Charles Leclerc. “I’m not happy with how I handled that,” he said angrily.
Gasly goes rallying!
The Alpine driver lost positions after fighting valiantly against the Ferrari of Leclerc F1 ImolaGP pic. twitter.com/F3bWyPakOS
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 19, 2025
“We were already battling in turn 7. I was slightly ahead in turn 8,” Gasly described the situation from his perspective. He then wanted to give the Ferrari driver some space and took the corner more centrally than usual. “When I turned in, I just lost the rear.”
The mistake not only cost him positions, but also “possibly” damaged the underbody. Alpine responded by changing its strategy to two stops. “I think it could have been pretty exciting towards the end of the race, especially against the one-stop strategy,” said Gasly.
“It would have been very difficult for them to finish the race.” But the last glimmer of hope was dashed when Kimi Antonelli retired and the safety car came out, giving the competition a free pit stop. “And that was basically it, so it wasn’t our day at all.”
Hope for Monaco: “Always very competitive”
However, tenth place on the grid in qualifying gives cause for hope for the upcoming race in Monaco. “We know how important qualifying is in Monaco,” said Gasly, who said he felt “comfortable” in Imola and is looking forward to the race in the principality with confidence.
“It’s usually been a track where I’ve been very competitive every year, so I’m looking forward to it,” says the Alpine driver. However, a new rule this year is that two pit stops with tire changes are mandatory.
“I think that will make things quite complicated,” muses Gasly, who believes there will be ‘some interesting strategies.’ ”And maybe in the end, it won’t be the fastest who wins. We’ll have to see how it develops. But it will be the same for everyone.”
