Gasly details ‘shame’ over team order squabble

Pierre Gasly has stated it was a “shame” team-mate Esteban Ocon did not immediately comply with a team order at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Towards the end of the race, Ocon let Gasly pass for ninth place as he pursued Daniel Ricciardo for another position.

However, he was unable to close the gap and remained ahead of Ocon at the chequered flag, much to the latter's annoyance.

Gasly is confident he would have contended for eighth place if Ocon had let him through at an earlier stage.

“It was a shame because personally I feel like we had a shot to get eighth place,” Gasly told media including RacingNews365.

“Unfortunately Esteban took two laps to make the swap and Ricciardo opened that two-second gap.

“It’s just a shame it wasn't done when the team asked straight away because we had an extra two points to fight for.

“That’s about it. It's done and we move on and we’ll be fine.”

Gasly confident over Alpine F1 gains

Alpine has endured a difficult start to the year with a series of senior changes occurring amid its lacklustre performance on track.

Gasly highlighted the visible gains of the changes it has made will take time but is optimistic it will turn its form around later this season.

“I think I've mentioned it a couple of times, but obviously, it has been a poor start to the year, it hasn't been good in terms of performance,” he said.

“There have been a lot of changes internally. Whether it's on the management side, or whether it’s operations, processes at the factory.

“There have been a lot of improvements in many different departments, which doesn't correlate straight away the week after to more performance at the track. 

“So there have been quite a lot of green lights in different areas, which I believe will help improve and develop the car. But for the time being, obviously we can't see it, we can't see that performance.

“Usually racing drivers, we're kind of impatient, and we want to be competitive right now. But I know some more performance will come later in the year.”