Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has been under pressure since his CEO Laurent Rossi made critical comments about the Enstone outfit’s ‘amateurish' form and mistakes that have been made.
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With handy timing Esteban Ocon qualified a surprise fourth in Monaco, while Gasly earned a respectable seventh place.
The former was boosted one position after Charles Leclerc was handed a three-place penalty for impeding Lando Norris.
“A very good day for the team, very positive step forward compared to the first few races and they did a very good job,” said Gasly when asked about the session by Autosport.
“My side obviously frustrated and disappointed with Q3, because we didn’t do the lap when we had to do it. Locked too much the rear, sliding way too much on some of the entries, but at the end of the day that’s what you have in Monaco.
“We’ll work from there, but overall I’m satisfied to see we’re making progress as a team.”
Asked if the car was better in qualifying that it had been earlier in the weekend, he said: “Let’s say there were times in quali where it was better, then slightly got worse depending on the outlap etc.
“I think what I’m saying is overall we’re closer to the front than we’ve ever been so far this year, and that’s definitely positive. It means we’re getting more from the package we’ve got and that’s the most important.
Source: Autosport