Pierre Gasly is feeling positive as former McLaren engineer David Sanchez has been confirmed as joining the struggling F1 team Alpine.
Last year, the Frenchman left his position as Ferrari's head of vehicle concept, only to emerge for 2024 as technical director at McLaren.
However, Sanchez abruptly left McLaren after just three months, with McLaren stating that his role "did not align with our original expectations when he agreed to join us." Sanchez is now set to take charge of the technical team at Alpine.
"When the (McLaren) announcement was made public, Sanchez had already taken up his new post," according to the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.
Sanchez started his F1 career as a junior at Renault's works team, now known as Alpine, when Fernando Alonso won his first title in 2005.
"We have a big task ahead to improve on-track performance and it is this type of challenge that motivates me," he stated.
Team boss Bruno Famin added, "It is clear that the performance of the car and development path has not moved at a sufficient pace relative to our ambitions as a team."
"This is a key appointment to ensure we are optimising everything we do as a team and focusing on the right performance areas," he noted.
Two weeks ago, Alpine revealed a crucial floor upgrade in China, but it was only available for Esteban Ocon. Pierre Gasly, his teammate, said in Miami, "I'm glad that I'm getting a new chassis and the new floor here. They worked exactly as we expected on Esteban's car and were a step in the right direction."
