David Brivio, the Racing Director of the Alpine F1 Team, felt the French marque had two positive free practice sessions at the Hungaroring on Friday, and he hopes they can continue the form into Saturday.
Esteban Ocon ended the afternoon session in fourth place, while team-mate Fernando Alonso placed seventh in both sessions to conclude a positive opening day of the Hungarian Grand Prix for Alpine as they bid to improve on their seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship this weekend.
Alonso was not as happy as Ocon was with the set-up of his A521, but the Racing Director says the team acquired a lot of useful data that will benefit both drivers for the rest of the weekend.
Brivio says both drivers showed good pace on Friday, but he knows the important days of the weekend are still to come as both Ocon and Alonso look to break into the top ten in Qualifying in order to be in a good position for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“We had two positive sessions, particularly with Esteban who felt comfortable in the car and showed some decent pace on both tyre compounds,” said Brivio. “Fernando still has a little way to go to improve the car to his exact liking, but we collected a lot of useful data on long runs and different tyres and can improve tomorrow.
“The final results are good, but it is difficult to read much into the classifications today, especially as the weather may change tomorrow. So, for now, we need to keep our heads down, keep working, have a good qualifying and keep ourselves focused.”