The French duo have been evenly matched in their first season as team-mates at Alpine, but amid a season where the Enstone outfit expected to consolidate on its fourth-place finish in last year’s constructors’ championship.
Gasly admitted the season had not lived up to expectations in that regard, with the team set to manage no better than sixth in the championship, and added that he was not able to feel entirely at ease with the overall car balance.
Asked about which particular elements of the car he’d like to see improved and if Ocon had provided similar feedback, Gasly stated that the two had offered similar wishlists for next year’s Alpine, except with regard to cockpit space.
Expanding further, Gasly stated that he wished for a narrower cockpit to improve aerodynamic performance marginally, but Ocon’s taller frame had necessitated more elbow room to drive comfortably.
“We’re kind of going in the same direction, apart from very long arms that he has! I’m requesting a tighter cockpit for obvious gains and he’s not so keen,” Gasly said.
“I don’t know how he drives [motions driving the car with his elbows out], but he needs slightly more space than me!
“We’ll see how that goes, but I must say that’s probably the only area where he’ll favour comfort over maybe more bias towards performance.
“Except from that, I think it’s very clear, similar direction and it’s been quite straightforward to work with him.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
“I think the team will always be keen on maximising the space that you have. I’m quite happy, I’ve got lots of room, but we’ve got one tall driver with long arms and long limbs.
“There are negotiations we are having at the moment, obviously it’s going to go towards performance.”
Gasly added that getting used to a completely new car for this season, while restricted by F1’s various format changes and experiments over the season, had perhaps slowed his ability to acclimatise to the car.
Despite his team’s slump in the constructors’ standings, Gasly felt that it had not been a particularly bad season – but the A523 had been too temperamental depending on the characteristics of a circuit.
“In terms of performance, it’s fair to say it doesn’t live up to the expectations going into the season,” said the Normandy native, who took his first Sunday podium with Alpine at Zandvoort after previously finishing third in the Spa sprint race.
“We wanted to consolidate fourth in the teams’ championship. We haven’t been able to do it with the progress of Aston and McLaren.
“But on the other side it’s not like it’s been terrible year for the team. We still managed to get a podium out of it.
“Two top threes with the sprints, in contention for the podium in Monaco. Strong in Melbourne, there’s been definitely some good performance.
“But I would say the package is too inconsistent, too track-dependent.”
