Alpine have had a disastrous start to the 2024 season, with their car not fast enough to compete for points, let alone podiums and race wins. In such a time, Pierre Gasly has received a strange suggestion from his manager to win races. The Frenchman revealed the same in a recent interaction with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Sainz won the Australian GP last weekend, just two weeks after having his appendix removed in an emergency surgery. Gasly’s manager took this as a learning point, and told Gasly what he has to do. As seen in a video clip posted on X (by user Clara), Gasly said to Albon and Sainz, “That is what my manager told me (to remove your appendix). He was like maybe we should send you“.
Sainz joked about becoming “lighter” without his appendix, which is what to led to Gasly and his manager doing the same. Soon after the outing in Melbourne, Sainz asked all his rivals to get their appendix removed. Lando Norris even took to social media and joked that he was going to follow in the footsteps of his former McLaren teammate to end his five-year winless run.
The Briton took to Instagram and wrote, “Gonna go get my appendix removed. Apparently, you do it and you win a race soooooo…Congrats Carlitos“.
Gasly, however, will likely have to do more than just remove his appendix to win races. Alpine is heading further back from the front-runners at the moment, and don’t look like they are fast enough to score points.
What are the issues Pierre Gasly and Alpine are facing?
One of the primary issues Alpine is currently facing is the resignation of key personnel at all levels. Technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer exited Alpine soon after they saw both cars languish at the back of the pack in Bahrain earlier this month. Following these departures, it became evident that not all was pleasant at Alpine, especially since the team also witnessed some key exits last year.
In 2023, Alpine witnessed a massive overhaul in their top management. Not only did the French outfit part ways with team principal Otmar Szafnauer, but sporting director Alan Permane, chief technical officer Pat Fry, and CEO Laurent Rossi all left the Enstone-based team.
These changes have not been smooth for anyone associated with the outfit, especially the drivers. Pierre Gasly said (as quoted by formula1.com), “It came as a surprise. But then at the same time, I trust my team. I trust the people in charge of the management“.
In 2023, Alpine also got a huge cash injection worth $217 million from a consortium which included Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds. Because of this, they would look to get out of his performance slump they are in at the moment, and work their way up the field before thinking of winning races again.
