Pierre Gasly thinks Alpine F1 team have just lost a ‘really good’ person

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Pierre Gasly feels Alpine have just lost a ‘really good’ person after the Formula 1 team decided to make a key change during the summer break after a poor start this season.

Recent years have seen Alpine continually regress to slip down the constructors’ standings. The Enstone natives were the fourth-best team on the grid as recently as 2022 as Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon got 173 points. But Alpine fell to sixth in 2023 and are now eighth.

While Gasly and Ocon both stood on Grand Prix podiums last season, the French duo could only score 120 points. Alpine signed Gasly to replace Alonso after the Spaniard departed for Aston Martin. Ocon took P3 in the 2023 Monaco GP, which Gasly replicated at the Dutch GP.

Pierre Gasly thinks Alpine have lost a ‘really good’ person in Bruno Famin

This term, though, has so far only seen Alpine score 11 points in the first 14 rounds and had to wait until the Miami GP before Ocon provided their first top-10 finish. The Enstone outfit started 2024 on the back foot having developed an overweight car which lacked downforce.

Alpine turned a corner after Ocon’s P10 in the Miami GP with points in five of the following eight races. But ranking eighth in the constructors’ standings was unacceptable for Renault, which has moved Bruno Famin aside and appointed Oliver Oakes as Alpine’s team principal.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 team principal Oliver Oakes

Famin spent just one year in charge of Alpine after replacing Otmar Szafnauer ahead of the 2023 Dutch GP. Now, he will return to the Frenchman’s role as the vice president of Alpine Motorsports. But Gasly thinks the Alpine F1 team have lost a ‘really good’ person in Famin.

“I want to thank Bruno for the really good cooperation,” Gasly said, via Speedweek. “We had a good time, he is very honest and transparent.

“He will remain with the Alpine family but, obviously, in a new role. I would like to thank him again for his work here in the team, and wish him all the best for the future.”

Renault moved Bruno Famin aside to give Oliver Oakes a chance to improve Alpine

Famin oversaw his last race as the team principal of Alpine at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix as Ocon returned to the points for the first time in four races with P9. Gasly finished the race in 13th place after dropping from his P12 start, despite George Russell’s disqualification at Spa.

Now, Oakes will arrive in Enstone during Formula 1’s summer break after impressing Renault CEO Luca de Meo with his work in Formula 2 with the Hitech Grand Prix team he founded in 2015. Oakes will also try to hit the ground running to see Alpine climb the teams’ standings.

Groupe Renault chief De Meo opted to move Famin aside while Oakes still has time to work with Gasly and Ocon on improving Alpine’s standing. While the Enstone natives have scored only 11 points, RB in sixth place and Haas in seventh are within reach with 34 and 27 points.