Gasly pinpoints problem AlphaTauri: 'Like running with a heavy backpack'

2022 was a disappointing season for AlphaTauri. A year earlier, Red Bull's sister team boasted a fine sixth place among constructors and Gasly finished the year in ninth place, but in 2022 AlphaTauri had to make do with second-to-last place among constructors. Only Williams pulled in fewer points.

"It was a tough year," acknowledged Gasly, who is swapping AlphaTauri for Alpine next year. "The bar was obviously high after how well the previous season went. We had the right momentum, there was a rule change coming up, so my expectations for AlphaTauri were never higher than at the start of 2022. There was no reason why we wouldn't finish ahead of the other midfield teams."

'That cost three tenths per lap'

Yet the team could not live up to those expectations. Gasly does have an inkling what the main cause of that was. "I think the core of the car isn’t bad, but we’ve just been massively overweight all season," the Frenchman explained. "That alone cost us a huge amount. We were twelve, thirteen kilos overweight all season and we didn't manage to improve that, it really did cost us three tenths per lap. About ten times we just missed Q3 in qualifying, missing it by a few tenths. All that extra weight, it feels like running with a heavy backpack."