Pierre Gasly heads into the Madrid Grand Prix weekend with a decision that appears to go against both the numbers and the instinct to adapt everything for a circuit very different from Monza. Instead, the Frenchman and Alpine have chosen not to move away from the set-up used at the Italian Grand Prix, believing a compromise designed largely for Monza revealed a deeper and more effective balance than expected.
It is a bold and almost counterintuitive choice. Monza and Madrid place very different demands on a Formula 1 car, yet Pierre Gasly does not want to lose the stability, confidence and natural feeling he found with the Alpine. After a memorable Italian Grand Prix weekend, including the performance analysed in detail in why Pierre Gasly and Alpine were fast enough for pole at Monza, the French driver believes there is value in retaining that baseline before using practice to understand how well it transfers to Madrid.
Pierre Gasly wants Alpine to keep its Monza set-up philosophy
Pierre Gasly said he made his position clear to Alpine immediately when discussing preparations for Madrid.
“I also told the team that I didn’t want to change the car settings. The parts we used at Monza were a little specific to that circuit, but this compromise turned out to be better than expected. We’ll do some tests in FP1 and FP2 to try to understand all of this.”
The decision stands out because Monza is an exceptionally fast and relatively straightforward circuit, where teams work with aerodynamic compromises that rarely transfer directly to other venues. Yet Pierre Gasly felt something in the car that he does not want to sacrifice: stability, confidence and behaviour that allowed him to drive naturally.
That feeling followed a Monza weekend in which Pierre Gasly was able to extract far more from the Alpine than might have been expected beforehand. His performance ultimately produced a notable result for the team, while the wider weekend is covered in GP-News’ look back at Pierre Gasly’s first F1 pole and seventh-place finish at Monza.
The simulator has also given Pierre Gasly strong sensations ahead of Formula 1’s Madrid challenge.
“From a driving point of view, I have to say that on the simulator it was a lot of fun and very exciting. I was really able to understand and feel almost every wall at every corner. So I know what to do and what not to do.”
Madrid presents a very different challenge for Pierre Gasly
That familiarity has encouraged Pierre Gasly to believe that starting with a known car set-up could allow him to focus more heavily on learning the circuit rather than also having to interpret a significantly altered Alpine. Nevertheless, he expects the reality of Madrid to be considerably more complicated than what he experienced at Monza.
“I think it will be very difficult, especially in terms of track evolution. There will probably be a lot of changes to the track, braking zones that aren’t exactly straight but rather twisty, very tight corners, lots of corners, many blind spots, gradients, as well as uphill and downhill sections throughout the circuit.”
For Pierre Gasly, Madrid is therefore a circuit that demands respect and a methodical approach. That is also why arriving with a stable baseline makes sense from his perspective. Alpine will already have plenty to understand during Friday practice without unnecessarily removing a set-up foundation in which its driver has confidence.
The challenge will not be unique to Pierre Gasly. His Alpine team-mate is also expecting the new venue to test the team, with Franco Colapinto anticipating a more difficult Madrid test for Alpine as the team continues to evaluate the development direction of its car.
Pierre Gasly expects Madrid mistakes to have major consequences
Pierre Gasly is making no attempt to disguise just how demanding he expects the new circuit to be.
“So I expect a very tricky and difficult track for us, which is positive because we can always try to make the difference with the driving.”
His comparison for the Madring immediately underlines how little margin for error he believes drivers will have.
“It’s a type of circuit a little similar to Monaco, where the slightest mistake immediately has serious consequences. I think there will be a lot of red flags.”
Madrid is not a track where Pierre Gasly expects drivers to be able to attack immediately. Alpine’s engineers have already completed their reconnaissance and told him that the real circuit appears even more extreme than the simulator suggested.
“The difference between the simulator and reality is really impressive. For example, the uphill section towards Turn 8 has an 8% gradient. They told me it’s dizzying, but we’ll see. The uphill exit from the banked corner is just as steep. It’s like Monaco.”
Gasly plans a methodical approach instead of attacking immediately
Those characteristics mean Pierre Gasly intends to build his pace gradually rather than immediately exploring the limits of the circuit.
“In these situations, at the start of the session we proceed step by step, unlike at other circuits where you can attack straight away.”
The contrast with Monza is significant. At the Italian circuit, a driver can use established braking references almost immediately and accept that an aggressive first attempt might produce a small lock-up or a trip beyond the ideal line. Madrid, in Pierre Gasly’s view, requires a much more cautious process.
“At Monza, if I know I have to brake 100 metres before the straight, I brake at 100 metres already on my first lap in FP3, even if that means locking the wheels slightly or running wide. Here we never do that: the first time we brake at 105 or 104 metres and we proceed in a much more methodical way.”
It is that combination of blind corners, elevation changes and severe consequences for mistakes that gives drivers an opportunity to make a difference. For Pierre Gasly, the priority is therefore to build confidence progressively rather than spend valuable practice time chasing the right feeling from an unfamiliar car balance.
That is what makes Alpine’s decision so unusual but also understandable. Pierre Gasly is choosing to trust the sensations he experienced at Monza and a compromise that, on paper, might not appear suited to a circuit as different as Madrid. On track, however, that set-up revealed a balance that exceeded expectations, and the Frenchman now wants to establish how much of that advantage Alpine can carry into its next challenge.
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