Gasly denies McLaren 'jealousy' over F1 fortunes

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly has insisted there is no jealousy overMcLaren's rise from F1's midfield scrap despite admiration for thework done by the Woking-based outfit. Lando Norris and OscarPiastri were forced to endure a testing opening to last year'scampaign as the MCL60 battled a number of issues, initiallyperforming poorer compared to the Alpine A523. But a raft ofupgrades mid-season took McLaren from the back end of the midfieldto the midst of podium battles, often emerging as the nearestchallenger to Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Whilst Alpine enjoyedtwo podium visits - one apiece for Gasly and teammate Esteban Ocon- the French manufacturer was unable to make the kind of progressup the grid as seen by its rival and explaining why, the formerAlphaTauri and Red Bull driver told media includingRacingNews365.com : "It is for a lot of different reasons. "Thereare things that we have improved... I was going through the list ofwhen I joined the team - how many things I thought we needed totackle, there was a huge list. "I was going through it again:'that's ticked, that's ticked', we have improved in many, manyaspects but that really shows how much the other teams are alsoworking and improving, which is frustrating because I think we aregoing in the right direction. "But the others have probably donebetter with sudden steps. In the end, you can try to improve asmuch as you can but as long as you don't have the car to exploitthat, that is it, you are stuck with the pace you have got. "So thebest thing that you can do is take the opportunities when theycome. We have done that quite well as a team but we just need a carthat is quicker initially and then when we exploit it on track, wewill be sitting ready." 'It is possible' McLaren's rise has beenthe comparative benchmark for all midfield teams given the swiftturnaround, which has been performed despite F1's regulatorytightness over development, both in terms of budget and testingtime. But Gasly insisted: "There's no jealousy or 'oh s**t, they'vedone a really good job'. "To me, it is 'they've done it, so it ispossible to be doing that.' So fair play, admiration for the workthey have done. "It is possible to get out of the midfield becausethey have, so why not us? My dad used to say 'two arms, two legs,two hands and two feet, so possible'. Go for it."