Pierre Gasly was the author of an inexplicable miracle

Alpine’s early season has been a nightmare. As they now enter the second third of the year, things seem to be falling into place for the French team. After scoring points in the last two Grand Prix races in Monaco and Canada, the black and pink cars have finally moved up from the back of the grid. Reaching Q2 is now a reasonably achievable goal. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon did more than just reach Q2 in Spain.

In great shape since Friday afternoon, Gasly was displaying a promising pace by setting the fourth best time in Q2. A good result that could hide a car lightly loaded with fuel, but the predicted shipwreck at the dawn of the first laps did not seem to occur.

The qualifications confirmed the good form displayed by the Normand driver. During each session, he managed with ease to move away from the red zone and a potential elimination. The car didn’t need to be begged to be quick.

At the beginning of the season, Pierre Gasly seemed less capable of extracting as much performance as his garage mate. The hundredths of a second advantage were more on Ocon’s side. This situation was completely reversed in Q3 where the former AlphaTauri driver seemed to walk on water. His last attempt is three tenths faster than his teammate and he is only a tenth behind Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. He can also be pleased to outperform a struggling Perez in the Red Bull since Imola.

« It’s really positive for the team. We manage to have both cars in Q3, to be competitive all through the qualifications. I am very pleased with my lap in Q3 that puts me within half a tenth of Lewis Hamilton who is third. It’s much tighter than usual. When things don’t work out, we clearly need to understand why, but when we are also as competitive as this weekend, there are also answers to be found.

The Alpines qualify ahead of the two Aston Martins and the two Haas teams and proclaim themselves as the best among the others this weekend. Bruno Famin, the director of Alpine, also cannot pinpoint what allowed his team to be so competitive today. Having not made any improvements since Miami, the engineers are focusing exclusively on understanding their car. A strategy that has been paying off in the last few Grand Prix races, unlike the Racing Bulls this weekend who do not fully understand the new parts brought to Montmelo.

Now, it will be important for Alpine to capitalize on this strong performance and to score big points during the race. Bruno Famin’s team has the opportunity to surpass Haas in the constructors’ championship and to take 7th position. A result that would be even more important to achieve in front of the CEO of the Renault group: Luca de Meo.