Four-podium driver says he and his team are facing ‘a very difficult time’

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Alpine driver Pierre Gasly says he’s ‘feeling for everyone’ at the team after another miserable day at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Gasly had to retire almost immediately in the race after encountering a gearbox issue on the formation lap.

And he admits that the mood at the Enstone outfit is low in the midst of their early woes.

Alpine started the season as F1’s slowest team, with Gasly and teammate Esteban Ocon locking out the back row of the grid in Bahrain.

There was a marginal improvement in Jeddah as they out-paced the Williams of Logan Sargeant and the Sauber of Zhou Guanyu in Friday’s qualifying.

However, Gasly’s race was over before it really began, and Ocon was only able to finish 13th.

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft said the former’s car looked like it contained ‘kangaroo juice’ as it took its place on the starting grid.

While Alpine are one of four teams yet to score a point this season, they sit bottom of the constructors’ standings because the rest have notched a better individual result.

Pierre Gasly ‘feeling for everyone’ at Alpine

Speaking to F1TV, Gasly reflected on another weekend to forget the French team.

He revealed that undetected damage in qualifying concealed his car’s full potential, and expressed sympathy for his colleagues.

“It’s definitely not our weekend,” he said. “We lost sixth gear on the formation lap and basically had a gearbox issue on the formation lap, which meant we had to retire.

“We found some damage on the car after qualifying yesterday, which probably cost us a Q2.

“It’s been two difficult days for the team, and I’m just feeling for everyone. We’re obviously going through a very difficult time.”

Gasly and Alpine hope to emulate McLaren

After back-to-back races to start the new season, Alpine now have a fortnight to assess where they’re going wrong.

There have already been some significant departures this year, with technical director Matt Harman, aerodynamics head Dirk de Beer and advisor Bob Bell all moving on.

Former team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who was sacked in 2023, has blamed ‘bad decisions’ from the Alpine hierarchy for their present predicament.

McLaren scored nine podiums last year after a bleak start to the campaign, but there aren’t many who believe Alpine can produce a similar turnaround.