Gasly reveals 'crucial' focus for Alpine amid troubled start

Pierre Gasly is confident that Alpine can work through its problems with its new car after a troubled pre-season testing if it can focus on a 'crucial' area in the opening races of the year.

The Enstone team endured a tricky pre-season test with the A524 machine proving overweight and has slipped towards the bottom of the time sheets.

There is a suggestion within the paddock that the new car might even be the slowest of all - with team-mate Esteban Ocon "prepared" for this worst-case scenario.

Gasly, now into his second season with the team, has taken the glass half-full approach and believes there are big gains the team can make with its radical new car concept.

Gasly upbeat

"We are pretty much where we expected to be, starting with a new car concept," Gasly told media including RacingNews365.

"We know that from the start of the year, we said at the launch, that we would have to be patient.

"We believe there is potential to unlock from the package, but unfortunately we are not able to to from race one.

"I trust in the team and the guys to come up with the solutions that we need to find the competitiveness that we all want. I know that everyone has worked extremely hard, there is positive change in the team behind the scenes which doesn't always reflect straightaway on the racetrack.

"Wherever we will start for the season, I believe there will be progression - and that is what we will target from this weekend.

"We're not where we want to be in terms of car balance and performance, and it doesn't feel as good as we would have liked.

"But what is most important, what will be crucial in the first few weeks is for us to really identify all these weaknesses of the car and find the potential that we will have to unlock.

"We already have a plan and that will start to come at some point, but we know it is not going to be an easy start.

"Some targets have been missed, but it doesn't mean that we can't achieve them at some point in the season.

"What matters right now, is how fast we're going to be able to improve the car."