Bruno Famin says that “it’s going to be difficult” for Alpine in Monaco

Alpine was not in great shape this Friday during Free Practice 1 and 2. In the first session, Esteban Ocon finished 17th, while Pierre Gasly was dead last with only 10 laps completed, after being a victim of a waste gate valve problem on his car, explained later team principal Bruno Famin. For the second session, Ocon finished 14th and Gasly 17th.

Let’s start with the good news: the issue on Gasly’s car has been resolved. But Bruno Famin immediately states that it’s going to be difficult here for our car, which is stiff, low, and we will suffer if the weather conditions remain as they are – dry, he said at the press conference on Friday. So we are working, but it’s a good opportunity to work on the set-up, improve it, and always work harder to improve the car.

Despite the very tough weekends that have followed one another since the beginning of the season, Alpine’s team boss says he is satisfied with the team’s reaction, because the car is as everyone knows at the start of the season, but we were able to make improvements earlier than expected to return to the minimum weight. Recall that the overweight of the single-seater was a serious handicap from the first race.

No rush to extend Ocon and Gasly.

« Now, we must move on to the second phase of development of this car. You know we have worked a lot to understand why we were in this situation. And now that we have had David Sanchez with us for two weeks, it will help us go faster in the recovery, that’s what we hope », said Bruno Famin, pleased with this recent recruitment at Alpine.

According to him, David Sanchez’s presence as technical chief has an immediate impact on the team’s mindset, defining a clear position that they must follow to develop this car and the next one. It is unclear when the single-seater can be further improved. « For now, it is a bit too early to talk about when we can bring the next significant update. »

Interrogated about the drivers who will race for Alpine next year, Bruno Famin did not confirm that he wanted to extend Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly at all costs, leaving the door open to other options. « I think we really need to focus on improving the team, developing the team. That’s the priority. And we don’t feel any pressure on the driver market because we have two good drivers. We would be happy to continue with them, but we want to take our time and we have very good drivers in our academy, with Jack [Doohan], with Victor [Martins] in particular, and we have no stress. »

Rumors in the paddock this weekend are suggesting that Esteban Ocon could be heading to Haas or even Sauber next year.