Alpine’s Alan Permane – The car feels a little more together than this time last weekend

Following a productive day of free practice, Alan Permane, Sporting Director of BWT Alpine F1 Team, said that Jeddah Corniche Circuit will test the abilities of both drivers and team members this weekend. 

“Today, we ran through a normal Friday programme. Jeddah is a very challenging circuit. Not only is it tough for the drivers, who have to be absolutely focused for the entire lap as there’s no room for any lapse in concentration at the wheel, but it’s also a good challenge for the engineers in setting the car up, managing things like traffic and communicating quickly to the drivers.”

Permane said that tyre degradation will be an important factor to understand ahead of race day, as the circuit has been particularly demanding of the front tyres through the practice sessions.

“A lot of our focus today has been on the tyres and assessing how they are operating. There was some front tyre degradation, so that’s something for us to take a look at in preparation for Sunday’s race.”

Permane emphasized the importance of their performance during Saturday Qualifying in order to be as close to the front as possible in light of a competitive, tight grid. Based on Friday’s running, he feels as though the car is in a better position than it was in Bahrain. 

“The car has run well today, and it feels a little more together than this time last weekend. It’s tight out there again on the leaderboard, and we aim to extract everything tomorrow to be at the right end of a very close pack.”