Gasly expects Alpine to perform strongly over a flying lap in Monaco

Following a disappointing end to last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly expects his car to perform strongly around the narrow streets of Monaco, especially when it comes to one-lap performance.

Although he looked very strong on Friday, Pierre Gasly's race unravelled at Imola when he was fighting Charles Leclerc early on. He found himself skating through the gravel trap, which dropped him from ninth down to P14. From there on he did his best to recover, but did not get near the points again.

Following a disappointing end to last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly expects his car to perform strongly around the narrow streets of Monaco, especially when it comes to one-lap performance.

“There were some good things from the weekend in Imola but we left there on Sunday night disappointed with the end result. Not everything ran smoothly but we will aim to take what we learned into the second race of the triple header, in Monaco, this weekend.

"I had a good feeling in the car over one lap especially and we know that is so important in Monaco. It’s always a very unique and special event. The track is iconic and it’s amazing to race on the famous streets there.

"As a driver, you need to be absolutely perfect on every lap and that makes it one of the most difficult of the year. Through all the practice sessions, we will be building confidence and gradually pushing more before Qualifying, which is incredibly important. Our target is to definitely be in the top-10 which will put us in the best position for points during the race on Sunday."

This year, there’s a very interesting change to the sporting regulations, specifically for the Monaco event, namely the requirement for every driver to stop at least twice during the race to change tyres, although there is still no obligation to use more than two of the available three dry tyre compounds.

The aim is to generate more excitement on track, because in recent years, overtaking moves, indeed changes of position in general, have become a rarity. That is why, more than at any other round, qualifying is the key moment of the race weekend.

"Usually, Monaco is a one-stop race but this year it will be a mandatory two-stop where we are required to run a third set of tyres, hopefully the strategy variation will help make the race more exciting for everyone watching and it gives us an opportunity to get ahead of our rivals.

"But really in Monaco you cannot predict anything, the car is in such a unique configuration to any other circuit so we are hoping this will play to our strengths. I’m excited to get on track on Friday and start the weekend.”