In the round-up: Pierre Gasly believes Alpine did not reach its potential during the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
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In brief
Gasly: Alpine had “not everything clicked together” for Bahrain
Gasly qualified last at Bahrain, while team mate Esteban Ocon made it to Q3 and started ninth on the grid. However their fortunes switched during the race, as Gasly charged up to ninth while Ocon retired following several penalties and errors by driver and team.
Nonetheless the team’s new driver believes “there’s so much more to come from myself and from the team as we have not reached 100% yet.”
“That is why we also left Bahrain with some disappointment as not everything clicked together and it’s important we piece everything together to make sure we extract the maximum performance,” said Gasly.
Williams announce another new top-level signing
Two months after announcing their new team principal, Williams have followed up with the signing of a new chief operating officer.
Williams parted ways with their previous leadership team, fronted by Jost Capito, in December 2022 and then signed James Vowles to replace him as team principal but had a wait between Vowles leaving his previous employer Mercedes and starting his new role.
They have now filled the chief operating officer position too, as Capito was previously CEO, but will have to wait until April for new signing Frederic Brousseau to actually join the team.
Brousseau has spent 26 years working in the aerospace industry and primarily been based in North America in roles overseeing factory operations.
“We are very excited to bring Frederic on board as an energetic and experienced leader who can help with the transformation of Williams Racing,” said the team’s board chairman Matthew Savage.
“He began his career working on the shop floor, and his most recent role saw him looking after worldwide aerospace operations, including running multiple worldwide manufacturing sites and an operation with more than 10,000 employees. I expect him to contribute significantly to our journey at Williams.”
“We should only get stronger from here” – Rossi
McLaren’s new IndyCar signing Alexander Rossi finished fourth in his first race with the team at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and he saw a lot of encouraging signs to support his move.
Since his debut season in 2016, Rossi had exclusively driven for Andretti Autosport and picked up eight wins in that time but had finished no higher than ninth in the standings over the past three years. He signed with McLaren for 2023 as the team expanded to three full-time entries.
“I think, in theory, we should only get stronger from here,” said Rossi after racing in St. Petersburg. “We’re still a very new group working together. I think the effort all weekend from where we started on Friday was really big to recover from a difficult start. Ultimately, we were one session behind all weekend.
“The car was nice to drive; it was just missing a little bit of that ultimate balance for that little bit of extra lap time. But, again, it’s days like [Sunday] where you got to just capitalise on the attrition and the chaos, and I think we’re only going to get stronger from here.”
He added: “I don’t think anything’s really surprised me. I think it’s just there’s a lot of ability to rectify problems quickly. That’s part of the reason why they’ve been so strong over the years. Even if you don’t roll off quite where you expect, they have the ability to recover pretty quickly, and I think that was on display for us [last] weekend.
“We went from being pretty much the worst car on Friday to being competitive and in with a shot in qualifying to just keeping our nose clean and be in the top five.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
‘Focusing on racing rather than budget’ has improved Boschung, says Campos Jnr (Formula Scout)
‘Campos Racing got off to a great start to the 2023 Formula 2 season in Bahrain, as Ralph Boschung won the sprint race then finished second in the feature race.’
In Profile: Gabriele Minì (Formula 3)
‘He’s made a fast start to life in F3 so how about we get to know Gabriele Minì a little bit better? The Hitech GP driver is the latest Italian to make a surge up the single-seater ladder, and arrived in F3 with plenty of expectation. From his time in karting, work for school and admiration of a Ferrari charger, here are a few things to help you know Minì.’
Pruett: Abel Motorsports a rising Indy Nxt force (Racer)
‘Of all the things I had on my Indy Nxt bingo card heading into the new season, ‘Abel Motorsports takes front row start and Jacob Abel nearly wins the first race’ was nowhere to be found.’
Mahindra: bent suspension risks breaking relationship with Abt (Italiaracing)
‘After only five e-prix the ‘marriage’ between Mahindra and the Cupra Abt team is already creaking. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the early withdrawal of the Indian cars in Cape Town, due to structural problems related to the rear suspension components. If initially the blame was given to the conformation of the track, fast and full of bumps in the trajectory, it was later discovered that the cause lay in the design and construction of the suspension itself.’
Toby Sowery returns to HMD Motorsports’ Indy Nxt programme (HMD Motorsports)
‘After a one-year hiatus from the grid, Toby Sowery will return to Indy Nxt and to HMD Motorsports this year for a limited season. Scoring HMD’s first victory back in 2019 and recently being crowned the 2022 Radical World Finals Champion, Sowery is aiming to get back into open-wheel racing with a five-race programme.’
MotoGP organisers to look after revamp of India’s former F1 track (The Times of India)
‘Doubts about the agency that will be entrusted with the job of repairing the Buddh International Circuit ahead of the MotoGP race slated for September have now been put to rest. It’s the organisers of the MotoGP event who will have to bear the cost of renovation of the track, designed to hold Formula 1, according to officials.’
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
The collective shoot always delivers on epic behind-the-scenes car shots 🤩#WEC #1000MSebring pic.twitter.com/vodjShwB3p
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) March 14, 2023
Coming soon.
Really looking forward to it. pic.twitter.com/ap7hMDyZmt— Juju Noda (@JujuNoda_Racing) March 13, 2023
“I started dirt bikes when I was a kid, but I don’t jump anymore.” 👀
Keep your wheels on the ground for now, @PatricioOWard. 😅🏍️
pic.twitter.com/CnDXQvi0Jj— Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) March 13, 2023
30 years ago today, our #F1 journey began with P5 on debut at the 1993 South African Grand Prix.
The rest, as they say, is history. But this story is just getting started. ♥️ #GetCloser pic.twitter.com/j2i07vsKZ0
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake (@alfaromeostake) March 14, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Franky!
On this day in motorsport
- 15 years ago today Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica claimed the front row of the grid for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix
