Pierre Gasly is bracing himself for a tough run in the upcoming Formula 1 races, with his Alpine A524 set not to receive any upgrades "in the near future".
The start of the 2024 F1 season has been much more difficult than the Anglo-French squad had anticipated, as it has reached Q3 only once – with Pierre Gasly classified tenth in Monaco – and has scored just five points.
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As a consequence, after taking fourth place in the 2022 constructors' championship and sixth position last year, Alpine now languishes in eighth, two points behind Haas, with both teams lagging behind the RB outfit and its 28-point tally.
Alpine drivers Gasly and Esteban Ocon took advantage of a tricky race in wet conditions to finish ninth and tenth respectively in the last round at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – not without internal drama – but their prospects are not set to improve any time soon.
"We won't have any upgrades in the near future," Gasly admitted after the Canadian Grand Prix. "We know the target is to have something a bit more significant at some stage in the year.
"[Qualifying in Montreal] was tough. I expect the next few races to be quite tough if it's normal conditions, but this is Formula 1 and you always have chances at times.
"That's why we've got to make sure we stay on top of it, and until we have the upgrades, just try to grab any opportunities that may arise."
Gasly nevertheless praised his squad's "good teamwork" after achieving its first double points finish of 2024.
"That's what we need until the end of the year, because we know Williams seems to have a competitive car," he added.
"Looking at the qualifying yesterday, it was quite impressive. Haas seems to have some good pace at times.
"We know on days like today we've got to make the best out of what we have and we can't afford to do any mistakes, can't afford to take any unnecessary risks.
"It was well managed, and hopefully, we're going to continue like that until the end of the year."
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