BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso matched his best race result of the season with a second consecutive seventh place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, utilizing the A522’s straight-line speed to move up the grid and benefitting from retirements ahead.
“The race was difficult to execute today but we did well, and I am happy with seventh. We obviously benefited from a few retirements, but these things happen, and we were there to capitalise on them and really maximise our strengths.”
Several of Alonso’s nearest competitors took the opportunity to pit under the virtual safety car on lap nine, while he remained on his starting mediums for a longer stint. After his stop on lap eighteen, his fresher tyres gave him a competitive edge, as he was able to overtake and defend well– particularly at the end of the race when both McLaren F1 Team drivers were on his tail.
Ultimately, Alonso was happy with the performance of the team’s power unit and the car’s abilities on the vast straight of the third sector of Baku City Circuit. He will be looking for more points at the Canadian Grand Prix, which he predicts will provide a similarly competitive midfield fight.
“I overtook a few cars on the new tyres and we were very fast on the straights so that was useful. Our power-unit is looking strong and competitive, so this is always a good thing. We are very close with a number of cars at the moment, and I expect it to be quite similar in Canada. Let’s aim to score more points there!”
“There is definitely more potential there if we can piece it all together.” – Esteban Ocon
Team-mate Esteban Ocon took tenth place in Baku, also moving up into the points after a handful of retirements, effective defense and a solid alternative strategy– capitalizing on the race’s second virtual safety car after going long on his starting hard tyres.
Ocon was pleased to see Alpine complete the weekend with both cars in the points, but maintains that there is still more in store for Alpine, as the team’s qualifying result was not up to par with the pace they saw during practice.
He said that the team will reflect on this weekend’s lower points in order to push for improvement ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, where they will look to add to their points tally once again.
“It was a very challenging race today, so to come away with a double points finish and another top ten is a positive. Like always, we’ll debrief as a team to see what areas we can improve for next time.
“We were quick on both Friday and Saturday – we can count ourselves slightly unfortunate in qualifying which did not help our track position today – so there is definitely more potential there if we can piece it all together. We can leave Baku feeling positive and we’re already looking forward to returning to Canada next weekend where the aim is to keep scoring points.”
Credit: BWT Alpine F1 Team