Alpine has had a tough race since the Australian Grand Prix, with Gasly and team-mate Esteban Ocon colliding in Melbourne, and they were unable to break the scoring position in either the sprint or the main race in Azerbaijan.

Gasly scored a season-best fifth in Miami, three points behind Ocone, and is determined to use that as a springboard to build on Alpine’s meager eight-point mark so far in the 2023 season.

“I think, overall, I’m very happy for the whole team,” he said.

“We managed to get both cars into the top eight and after a tough weekend in Baku everyone was a bit disappointed with the speed results we showed there.

“Bounce was important this weekend and that’s what we did. I think in practice we managed to show some good speed, I managed a good lap in Q3 at a critical moment and did a good job with the old tyres, That gets us to P5.”

The closing moments of Miami’s third-quarter race were disrupted by Charles Leclerc crashing his Ferrari and causing a red flag, which also limited Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to an early foul in his first race. Ninth after a mistake.

Gasly reckons he could have finished the extra race ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen as he was only 0.019s slower, while he conceded that if Verstappen and Leclerc had completed their second laps, the first Sixth and eighth were probably his best results.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523

Photography: Andy Horn / motorsport pictures

“I think, objectively, Charles and Max could have been ahead of us, and then that would have put us in seventh, but at the same time (the gap) with Kevin one more lap away, I think We could have had him the same — we’re talking two per cent,” Gasly added.

“So we’re sixth and eighth in terms of pure speed, which is positive. It seems to be a better fit for our car.

“Of course I am very happy. We have a good chance (in the game) and from there anything can happen. So, we will push and see the result, but I think the important point for us is that is on the table of.”

Gasly expects Verstappen to cross the grid with ease thanks to Red Bull’s speed advantage, but said his immediate goal is to overtake Magnussen at the start of the race.

“Our aim is to get past Kevin as quickly as possible in the race because they seem to be struggling with the tyres, generally, so we’ll try to do that,” he added.

“I think the Red Bulls have such a speed advantage, I would expect Max to get back to the front easily, but with Charles it might be a little more difficult.”