The AlphaTauri of the 2022 Formula 1 season does not seem to have the balance that Pierre Gasly would have wanted, as he himself has confirmed on several occasions.
The French driver is suffering more than expected with the rear of his AT03, which favors oversteer. A similarity it shares with the Red Bull RB15, a car in which Gasly was unable to show off his performance, consistently losing a lot of time to Max Verstappen, ultimately leading to him losing his seat to Alex Albon.
“[The rear end] is one aspect we’re still struggling with,” Gasly said of his car this year. “It really depends on the characteristics of the car. Red Bull, for example, puts a lot of downforce on the rear axle, which we don’t do. So I think it really depends on the car you have at your disposal.
Asked if he thinks he would be closer to Verstappen with the new “ground effect single-seaters” compared to their duel three years ago, he replied: “Not really. It depends on various factors, but I don’t think the balance [of the car] limited me at that time.
“Everyone has the impression that the driving is very different now compared to previous years, when in fact it is not so much,” explained the AlphaTauri driver. “It’s more about how we feel. The cars are stiffer and we’re driving a lot more low to the ground, whereas last year the cars were a lot more lean.
“But now we are glued to the ground, which means we feel much more bumpy with the car. Also, the driving is not as easy as it was last year. However, in terms of driving, I don’t feel like I had to change. a lot,” he added.
“I think my driving style changes over the course of a single weekend depending on the conditions, the balance of the car and the tire degradation. You have to constantly adapt to the balance of the car. So in Overall, my driving style hasn’t fundamentally changed compared to last year,” concluded Pierre Gasly .
Pierre Gasly leaving the garage with his AlphaTauri AT03
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