Pierre Gasly concedes Alpine is 'miles off' F1 benchmark target

Pierre Gasly conceded that Alpine rivals Racing Bulls are "miles ahead" after a tough Belgian Grand Prix.

Behind the established top four teams, there is a fierce battle to be the best midfield outfit. Alpine and Racing Bulls had been battling for this honour in the early stages of the season, but the latter has pulled clear at recent events, with now Audi closing in from behind.

Although Franco Colapinto scored a point for Alpine at Spa-Francorchamps, Gasly finished in 11th place, and was unable to add to this tally. In the meantime, Gabriel Bortoleto scored four points for Audi, while Arvid Lindblad registered two for Racing Bulls. The result meant that Racing Bulls drew level with Alpine in the constructors' championship.

Asked if Racing Bulls is now the midfield benchmark, Gasly said: "Yeah, I mean over a single lap quali, they were miles ahead. 

"I think in the race, I'm not too sure what happened to them, because they looked a bit more - Liam [Lawson], I think, was on a different spec. They clearly, I think, are the benchmark with Audi, and we need to keep working if we want to keep the battle alive."

Gasly was involved at one point in a three-wide battle with Liam Lawson and Colapinto, coming off worst as his Argentinian team-mate gained two positions into Les Combes.

"I was fighting with Liam. I had a poor start, but managed to recover two positions," he reflected. 

"Then we had a slow stop, unfortunately. With a better stop, we would have ended up in front of Lawson and Lindblad, which I think could have changed our race, because I spent 25 laps behind them after that. 

"Unfortunately, when we were three wide into turn five, I didn't come out on top. I lost a position there and had to battle a bit more with Lawson. So yeah, it was just a bit of a frustrating race, and I think at the end of the day, we were P10 and P11, and we were just too slow, finishing far away from Bortoleto, and that's clearly not where we want to be."