"I want to fight for a championship title", aims Pierre Gasly

• Every Monday, 

  20 Minutes

   gives the floor to a sports actor or actress who is making the news.

  This week, make way for Pierre Gasly, who is entering his fifth season in Formula 1. 

• After giving his Alpha Tauri team their best ranking since their arrival in F1, the French driver wants to be as consistent as the previous season, but with a brand new car. 

• His ambition is to join a big team for next season. 

A Pierre Gasly as smiling as he is ambitious.

A few days before the second pre-season tests in Bahrain, from March 10 to 12, and before the first Formula 1 Grand Prix on this same circuit a week later, the French driver Pierre Gasly confided in

.

New aerodynamic regulations to allow F1 to follow each other more easily, and therefore new car, but always the objective of being regular with his Alpha Tauri team.

To hope to join a big team in 2023.

How do you feel compared to previous seasons?

Did you change things?

The tests I did in Austria went really well.

I improved even more compared to last year, when it was already very good.

Physically I'm more than ready for the season, mentally the same.

Everything is getting closer and starting to take shape.

How does this new Alpha Tauri look like?

It's a completely different set of rules so it's going to be a big change for all of F1.

Everyone starts with a clean sheet, for the moment no one can know the level of performance that we will have.

It's confusing how hard you have to push your training, when a lot will be determined by the performance of the car?

I don't hide that the majority of my performance will depend on how the car is going to be.

Unfortunately the cruelty of our sport is that the car makes the big difference.

That's why in recent years we have seen the Mercedes at the forefront, the Red Bull too.

There is a kind of classification according to the cars.

But I hope that all the development by the team has been effective, and that we will have a car that is efficient to fight at the front.

Will the new regulations reshuffle the cards?

I think you can see a lower ranked team coming out on top, but I don't think you can see Mercedes or Red Bull going downhill.

There are one or two stables which can be a good surprise and which will be able to bounce back thanks to these changes.

There will be a lot of development throughout the first part of the season.

It could be us, Aston Martin, Alpine, Ferrari, like Alfa Romeo.

Everyone starts with a clean sheet, so this is one of the biggest changes of the last 20 years in terms of approach to the car.

It really is a pivotal year for F1.

Physical preparation is an area that is often overlooked in F1.

How crucial is it?

It's complicated for the general public to get an idea, because they can't get into an F1 car.

We have forces to sustain for 1h30 to 2h, which only fighter pilots feel.

We take 5 g on each braking, every 15 seconds.

For the neck, and all our organs, it requires a lot of sheathing.

There's the intensity too, because most of the lap is snorkeling due to the forces in the car.

Our heart rate goes up to 160, 170, and it takes focus and precision to ride at that speed, without making mistakes.

We lose two to three kilos per race, so the preparation is intense and extreme.

What are the objectives of your team, Alpha Tauri, in 2022?

For this year, the objective will be to further push Alpha Tauri to the highest level.

We had our best season last year since they arrived in F1 so we will continue this momentum.

We can have a very good surprise on this new car and fight for a top 5. Or unfortunately, I hope not, find ourselves in 15th or 16th position at the start of the season.

These are answers that we will have in the coming weeks.

And yours ?

Continue on the same path.

Over the past three years, it's been really, really good.

Last year, the main objective was to have this consistency throughout the season.

That's what we managed to do.

Some days the car was really good, other days it wasn't as good, but I was still there to put in the right laps and get the points when needed.

I clearly want to develop and find myself in a car that has the potential to fight in front, more regularly than before.

I am starting my fifth season in F1, I really want to fight for podiums and victories.

More than before.

Are you aiming for this consistency to join a big team in 2023?

Absolutely, that's clearly the goal.

As I said I am a competitor at heart.

I'm not in F1 to be satisfied with top 10 or top 5. All my career, before F1, I fought for victories, poles, championships, and that's the only reason I work so hard in F1.

Because I want to be at the forefront and fight for a championship title.

And for that, you need the following team and car.

You are under contract with Red Bull but rumors sent you to Mercedes in the event of retirement from Hamilton.

How do you see the future?

We'll see how it goes this year.

I have two years left on my contract, if we decide to go all the way.

For this year of course it's at Alpha Tauri, so by itself there's only 2023 left as a potential year with Red Bull.

This is something that will have to be discussed.

Of course the desire is there, I want to fight at the front, I want to win, I'm in F1 to win.

At Red Bull they proved they had the car and the team to do it.

The first conversations will be with them and we'll see where it takes us, if the desire is common.

And if it is not, we will have to see what the opportunities are in the future.

For the moment, we are focused on this season, to push Alpha Tauri as high as possible, and to bring them the best possible results.

Because it's also a team that deserves it, in which I've always been given the means to shine since I came back, and it's important to me to try to give my best for them.

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