Alpine’s Alan Permane: “We are happy with our work today”

BWT Alpine F1 Team rounded out a smooth day of running in Baku, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon finishing in the top ten in both Free Practice One and Free Practice Two of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Alonso had a particularly impressive day finishing fifth and fourth in the respective sessions, while Ocon took tenth and ninth.

Alpine Sporting Director Alan Permane said that the team’s Friday was a successful one from a technical stand-point, as the upgrades that they had installed proved to function well around the street circuit. Overall, he said that the drivers were pleased with the car aside from some adjustments, and the team has a solid grasp of the car’s behavior.

“We are happy with our work today. We brought some upgrades to Baku and everything seems to be working very well. The drivers are reasonably happy with the cars and there are still improvements to make of course. The two sessions ran as planned, very smoothly. We did our tyre work and have a good understanding on how the car is working, both on high and low fuel. 

Wind conditions are known to change quickly in Baku, which will likely play a role in qualifying and the race alike. Permane cited the wind as an important factor this weekend, as gusts proved to impact drivers in parts of the track. 

“The wind plays a part here, it can be very gusty and can catch the drivers out as we saw a few times especially around the last couple of corners that are very tricky with a tailwind today. It was a steady day and we look forward to qualifying tomorrow.”