Gasly hopes Alpine inching out of F1 crisis

Alpine is making small steps "in the right direction", according to Pierre Gasly.

There is no doubt that Renault’s works Formula 1 team is in a deep slump - fending off wild rumours of acquisitions and facing the prospect of losing both Gasly and his fellow French teammate Esteban Ocon for 2025.

Part of the issue, apart from an underpowered engine, is a badly overweight chassis. But while Williams is still struggling to produce a third monocoque, a new and lighter Alpine is now approaching its debut.

Other car updates are also making their way to the circuits, like a new floor that was scheduled to be ready for Miami but was fast-tracked for Shanghai.

Ocon is using the only available one this weekend.

"From what we’ve seen so far, the improvements to Esteban’s car seem to be a step in the right direction," Gasly told Canal Plus in China, "so I’m looking forward to Miami where we can both benefit from these developments."

As for Ocon, he recently put up his hand for the Mercedes race seat set to be vacated by Lewis Hamilton at the end of the year, with the added bonus that he is managed by Toto Wolff.

But when asked about 2025 in Shanghai, the 27-year-old answered simply: "We’ll see. I don’t know."