Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda formed one of F1’s best bromances when they were teammates at AlphaTauri (now Visa Cash App RB) in 2021 and 2022. Although the two are no longer teammates with Gasly moving to Alpine last year, they still train together. In a recent interview with formula1.com, the Frenchman explained how training with Tsunoda during the current pre-season has helped him prepare well for the campaign ahead.
“There was a lot of sweat in Dubai. So that’s good preparation for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It was good. Yuki Tsunoda was there, so we had good karting sessions, met each other a few times in the gym, pushed each other, and played a bit of padel. Just fun to see him in a different mindset and get into that competitive mindset.”
During the same interview, the 28-year-old explained how he feels that he is in the best shape physically. He stated that since he now has seven years of experience under his belt, he is well aware of which areas he needs to work on.
Since Gasly feels in a good place, both mentally and physically, he will hope that he can improve this season after a difficult campaign last year. The former AlphaTauri driver only managed to finish eleventh in the 2023 championship with 62 points. However, he did beat his teammate, Esteban Ocon, by four points.
How is the partnership between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon?
Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have not always seen eye to eye, right from their karting days together. Both drivers are not only French but they also grew up in close proximity to each other in Normandy. As a result, they have been rivals right from childhood.
However, it was a collision between them during the final race in the Bridgestone Cup in 2009 that changed their relationship for the worse. From that point on, Gasly and Ocon have always shared a tense relationship.
Although there have been instances of tension even during their time as teammates at Alpine, Gasly believes that he and Ocon are mature enough to handle the situation now. In an interview on F1’s Beyond the Grid last year, Gasly claimed that he and Ocon have found a way to work well together to push Alpine in the car’s development.
Now, with just a couple of weeks remaining before the 2024 F1 season kickstarts in Bahrain, it will be interesting to see if Alpine have made any significant improvements or not. Gasly is hopeful that Alpine’s decision to carry out a complete overhaul of last year’s concept will help his side achieve good results this season.
Alpine’s technical director Matt Harman explained how his side have chosen a more “aggressive” approach for the A524. He believes that such an approach will help them extract more performance from the car and hopes that doing so can also translate into better results on the track.
