Double points haul for Alpine at Silverstone
This weekend, the two Alpine drivers scored points, after a completely crazy race. Esteban Ocon, puts an end to a drought period and regains confidence.
It was a strong weekend for the French team. Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon both scored valuable points for the championship, finishing 7th and 9th respectively.
Their good results on Sunday were largely achieved during the Sprint Qualifying on Saturday, where both drivers bet on a bold tire choice (soft compounds, compared to medium for the others). This strategy allowed Alonso to gain 4 positions from his initial position. Esteban Ocon gained 3 positions (one of them thanks to George Russell’s penalty).
After the Grand Prix, the French driver declared that the race was far from simple, but that he was delighted to score points again, after a period of drought and a challenging double race in Austria.
« It was far from simple with everything that happened between the red flag and the two standing starts, but we are back in the points and it feels good. It was nice to fight and extract the maximum from the car. Tire management was complicated, but we made the right choices. », he says.
We obviously want more, but placing both cars in the top ten today is a great reward for all the hard work done by each team member. We are back on track after three difficult races and we want to continue this momentum in Hungary. We will prepare and work hard to achieve this and confirm this result. I am also glad that Max is doing well after the incident and I wish him a speedy recovery.
Alpine’s Executive Director, Marcin Budkowski, is satisfied with his team’s weekend and highlights Esteban Ocon’s return to the points.
« It was a positive overall weekend with great Sprint Qualifying sessions, both of our cars in the points and Esteban’s comeback. The race didn’t start ideally with Fernando going off track and damaging his diffuser during his installation lap. We did all the repairs possible on the grid, but had to start with a slightly damaged car and a deficit in performance.
« The two drivers lost some places at the start, but things went much better during the second procedure. From then on, the race was managed very well, both in terms of strategy and pace. Fernando showed perfect strategy by creating a “DRS train” to protect his position. It had been a while since we had both our cars in the points, and this allows us to stay ahead of our closest competitors in the Constructors’ Championship. We also send all our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Max, hoping he is well.
