Alpine driver’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto did not make it to the points at the Imola GP, as both drivers are “looking forward” to Monaco.
Both Alpine drivers, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, missed out on a points finish at the Imola GP, with Gasly finishing P13 and Colpinto finishing P16.
The Frenchman found himself in the gravel after trying to overtake Charles Leclerc during Lap three. This move stunted Gasly’s race as he fell five places. The Argentine was negatively impacted by the VSC, called to retrieve Esteban Ocon’s Haas, saying “VSC killed me a little bit”.
Even though they did not take home points in at the Imola GP, the Alpine drivers are keeping their eyes on Monaco, as Colapinto is “looking forward to it.”
A trip to the gravel
On Lap 3 of the Imola GP, Gasly attempted an ambitious move on Leclerc heading into Turn 7, but it did not go as planned. The French driver tried to get past Leclerc but “lost the rear”. Although Gasly was able to keep racing, he fell from P9 to P14.
“I am not happy with how I handled that,” Gasly told the media. “Yeah, not good. We are fighting, [in] Turn 7 already I was slightly ahead of Turn 8. I tried to leave him some space, made the corner sort of mid-track. When I turned in, I lost the rear. I went off straight away, so I lost some time and position there.”
Gasly tried to get back up, but with the strategy and the Safety Car, the 29-year-old was only able to finish P13.
“After we went on the 2-stop. I think it could have been quite exciting at the end of the race, especially with the one-stopper. So we knew we were catching up, and it would be very tricky for them to make it to the end. But then, yeah, with that last safety car, it gave them a free stop, and that was pretty much it. So, yeah, not our day all in all.”
New teammate stepping in
Gasly had a new teammate this week, Franco Colapinto. Colapinto took over Jack Doohan’s seat for five race, the Imola GP being the first one. Galsy told the media, Colapinto is “learning lap after lap” with Alpine.
“I think he builds session after session. It’s what you’ve got to do, like coming in at this stage. Yeah, I think he knows what he’s got to do, he knows he’s fast. He’s been working with the team, so I’m sure he’s learning lap after lap with the car.
“ I haven’t really seen his race, but yeah, I’m sure he’s going to get better week after week.”
After Colapinto crashed during qualifying, Gasly noted on how the Argentine “handled it pretty well”.
Gasly continued, “I think he handled it pretty well. I must say, we chatted, but I think he’s done well. Just try to regroup and focus on the day and what he had to do today.”
Moving on from qualifying
Colapinto seeming moved on after his qualifying crash, saying to the media, “It was not too bad, the front especially, I guess it was fine.” However, after his full race with Team Enstone, the 21-year-old had a “good day” with the team and still has “a lot of learning and a lot of work still to do”.
Colapinto told the media after the Imola GP, “[The race] was good, it was a good day, overall I think good pace in the car, good tyre management.
“Overall I think a lot of learning and a lot of work still to do, but it was a decent day. Started with a very long stint on the medium and the tyre kept doing very well, which I was quite happy with because it was tricky to manage.”
Like a lot of other drivers, Colapinto was caught of guard with the Virtual Safety Car strategy wise.
“We were on a good strategy I would say and then the VSC killed me a little bit,” Colapinto continued. “We were quite unlucky with the VSC and then it started to become a bit more of a tricky race, but I’m very happy with the first half.”
Looking to Monaco
Both drivers said they are ready and excited for Monaco after their Imola GP performance.
When asked how his car will do in Monaco, Gasly answered, “I think [qualifying] was good. Looking at yesterday, the pace was good. I felt comfortable, so we know how important the quality is in Monaco. It’s been usually a track where it can be very competitive.” The Frenchman noted, “I’m looking forward to it. We know Saturday is key there.”
Colapinto added, “I’m looking forward to it, it’s a track that can be a bit better for us, so let’s see how it goes.”
