Jolyon Palmer now thinks he’s spotted a fundamental flaw in Pierre Gasly’s racecraft after watching him at Imola, ‘he’s lost it’

Alpine have had a turbulent start to the 2025 Formula 1 season and failed to deliver on the promise they showed at the end of last year and during pre-season testing.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon saved Alpine’s 2024 campaign in Sao Paulo with a brilliant double-podium finish.

Flavio Briatore calculated that it earned Alpine millions in additional prize money, that should have been put to good use investing in this year’s car and next year’s machine when F1’s regulations change.

Gasly was one of the standout drivers during pre-season testing, and it looked as though Alpine would be locked in a battle with Williams to be the strongest team in the midfield this season.

However, James Vowles’ team currently sit on 51 points after seven race weekends, while Alpine languish in ninth in the constructors’ championship with seven points to their name.

The Frenchman has scored all of those points and has watched Jack Doohan being replaced by Franco Colapinto on the other side of the garage after a tough start to the campaign.

However, Jolyon Palmer now thinks he’s spotted an issue in the one-time race winner’s racecraft that is costing him and Alpine precious points.

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Jolyon Palmer thinks Pierre Gasly needs to stop taking risks at the start of F1 races after Imola

Palmer was speaking as part of Channel 4’s commentary team at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix alongside David Coulthard and Alex Jacques.

Gasly started the race in the top 10 but quickly found himself in a battle with Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.

He tried to drive around the outside of the Monegasque driver at Piratella, but ended up in the gravel trap, losing several places during a part of the race when the field was all bunched up together.

Jacques said: “Gasly chose to try and hang on, and paid the price.”

Coulthard replied: “Yeah, no foul there, that was just tough racing in a very high-speed corner. Cars heavy with fuel, of course, and Gasly would have gone just slightly off that racing line and the momentum took him to the gravel.

“It’s so frustrating, isn’t it Jolyon, when you just trickle into the gravel because you’ve got to go in to come out and you know you’re losing time.”

Palmer analysed the incident and explained: “Yeah, as soon as you drop a wheel in there, you’re going all the way in there in a high-speed corner like Piratella.

“Brave stuff from Gasly, possibly unnecessary really against a Ferrari now that’s gained two positions.

“I remember Gasly having the contact with Tsunoda on lap one in Jeddah, that’s a couple of times now where he’s had a top 10 position and he’s lost it by fighting cars, a Red Bull and a Ferrari, that are probably a bit quicker than the Alpine.”

Palmer went on to suggest that Gasly may potentially have felt that a battle with Leclerc was fair game, given the Alpine outqualified both Ferraris in qualifying.

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Pierre Gasly must cut out early mistakes to help Alpine realise their potential

Gasly has only started four races from inside the top 10 this season, with his best start coming in Bahrain where he was fourth on the grid.

He managed to convert that into a P7 finish, failing to hold off Max Verstappen on the final lap after battling the Red Bull for much of the race.

Unfortunately, that result is looking more and more like an outlier every weekend, although he’ll be frustrated he couldn’t convert his 10th-place start in Imola into points.

Gasly clashed with Yuki Tsunoda in Saudi Arabia, and while neither driver was technically to blame, a more conservative approach would have saved his race and set him up to battle both Williams drivers and Isack Hadjar for the final points.

Briatore has high expectations for number one drivers in Formula 1 and while Gasly is of the required calibre to fill that role, he can’t afford to make such costly mistakes when the driver on the opposite side of the garage is still learning the ins and outs of his car.

Alpine have piled the pressure on Gasly while Colapinto gets up to speed, and his qualifying performance in Monaco is going to be vital to adding to the team’s meagre points tally.