Pierre Gasly says it is important to put the dreadful Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend behind him and fight back this weekend in Miami as he bids to add to the four points he has scored in the opening four races of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
The BWT Alpine F1 Team had a weekend to forget at the Baku City Circuit, the team failing to score points in either the Sprint race on Saturday or the main race on Sunday. That came after a mechanical failure early in the one and only practice session on Friday morning and a crash for Gasly on Friday afternoon in Qualifying.
Gasly hopes for a much better weekend at the Miami International Autodrome and a return to the top ten, both in Qualifying on Saturday afternoon and in the race on Sunday.
“It’s good we have an immediate opportunity to bounce back in Miami this weekend,” said Gasly. “It’s a more conventional circuit with the normal format and we must be on it from lap one on Friday to put ourselves in a much stronger position to compete higher up the grid for the remainder of the weekend.
“After two disappointing races at the last two events, I’m so determined to put it right this weekend and return to the top ten as a minimum target.”
“The target for us here in Miami is making a strong comeback” – Esteban Ocon
Team-mate Esteban Ocon was also unable to break into the top ten in Azerbaijan and is targeting a return to the points this weekend in Miami.
Ocon has also scored only four points in the opening four races in 2023 courtesy of an eighth-place finish in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and he was out of position for much of the race in Azerbaijan before pitting for his mandatory pit stop on the final lap of the event.
The Frenchman says Alpine cannot afford any more disappointing weekends in 2023 if they are to become genuine contenders for the podium places, and he is eager to rectify his poor start to the year this weekend in Miami with a return to the points.
“After a very challenging weekend in Baku, the target for us here in Miami is making a strong comeback,” said Ocon. “We’ve debriefed and we are ready to take the learnings and move forward.
“It was a frustrating few days where many things didn’t go right and it is clear we cannot afford more weekends like this. The whole team is glad to have the chance put things right so soon after Baku and we are ready to tackle the Miami Grand Prix weekend head on.”
