Jolyon Palmer thinks one F1 driver has ‘lost his rhythm’ at the Canadian GP due to new upgrades

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Jolyon Palmer pointed out how upgrades to his car has completely derailed Pierre Gasly’s momentum this season.

The Alpine driver started the season quite strongly, with some even believing that Gasly could win a Grand Prix this year.

However, his momentum since the resumption of the season at the start of the month has taken a nosedive, as he just hasn’t been able to deliver the same calibre of performances he did earlier this year.

With Alpine bringing several upgrades to the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, there was a hope that the Miami Grand Prix would end up being an outlier for Gasly.

However, that hasn’t been the case at all, as some believe Pierre Gasly has looked even worse since the new upgrades were introduced.

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Jolyon Palmer says Pierre Gasly has lost his connection with his A526

Speaking during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Jolyon Palmer reflected on Pierre Gasly’s Q2 exit, suggesting that the new upgrades have not suited him.

Whatever changes Alpine have made to the car seem to have severed his connection with the A526, which is costing Gasly in his performances.

“[Gasly has] lost his rhythm at the moment. We mentioned the upgrades that came to Miami, and he just hasn’t quite felt the same connection with the car.”

After the race, Gasly spoke to Canal+, where he suggested that there are several issues with the new car that he and Alpine need to work to understand.

“This is the second weekend in a row where things haven’t gone well. We’re going to analyze it. The collision with the groundhog damaged the floor, but it’s not just that; there are many other issues. There’s a lot of work ahead of us because we’re not where we should be.”

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Pierre Gasly asks Alpine for ‘help’ as Franco Colapinto usurps him as team’s best performer

Speaking to Formula 1 TV after the race, Gasly echoed the same sentiment about the issues persisting across the last two race weekends, before asking Alpine to help him understand the issue.

“We’ve had two weekends in a row where we’ve been really slow and we don’t know why. I need the team to help me, because I can tell something’s not right.”

On the other side of the garage, his teammate, Franco Colapinto, will be thrilled with his P10 finish, which marks the second weekend in a row where he has out-qualified Gasly.

Earlier this year, Alpine internally saw Gasly above Colapinto, especially considering his level of performances this season.

But Colapinto managed to chase Gasly and eventually surpass him, now becoming Alpine’s in-form driver. It should come as no surprise that the Frenchman is both concerned and frustrated about his performances.