After his BWT Alpine F1 Team took home an eighteen-point haul from the Japanese Grand Prix, Otmar Szafnauer has spoken on how he feels his team have taken exactly what they deserved from the Suzuka International Racing Course as the Enstone-based team climbed ahead of the McLaren F1 Team in the tightly contested battle for fourth in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Constructor Standings.
Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were both able to escape the first lap chaos unscathed and after the lengthy red flag delay, both drivers would line up a place ahead of where they both originally started the Grand Prix.
Ocon would pit for a new set of intermediate tyres on lap seven and after a brief period in which he led the race, Alonso would come into the pits on the following lap to change over to the same compound.
Lewis Hamilton would soon be on the back of Ocon as the British driver attempted to take fourth-place off the hands of the Frenchmen but despite Hamilton’s best efforts, the straight-line speed of the A522 would prove to be too much as Ocon came home for a season-best fourth-place finish.
While for Alonso, the Spaniard became intertwined in a battle with Sebastian Vettel for sixth-place. The Alpine driver was able to push Vettel close but with the impending threat of George Russell behind, Alpine would elect to pit Alonso for a second time with ten minutes remaining in the race to put the Spaniard in a position to fight with the likes of Russell and Vettel.
In a thrilling final lap, Alonso would overtake Russell and would nearly get the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver, as both drivers were involved in a photo-finish with Vettel getting the better of Alonso to claim sixth-place.
On his team’s performance around the Suzuka International Racing Course, Szafnauer spoke on his delight to have put on a show for the Japanese fans around Suzuka, who patiently waited during the two hour delay to the Grand Prix.
“It was certainly not an easy race across the board today with the challenging conditions bringing some very hard decisions for everyone. Firstly, I think it was great that we were able to have some racing today and repay the loyal Japanese fans who have been excellent all weekend. At one point it looked like there might not be any competitive laps due to the persistent rain, which meant poor visibility for the drivers on track.
“As a team, we can be pleased with our points collection from this race with Esteban delivering a fantastic result in fourth place after a supremely well managed race and Fernando in seventh to score 18 points. We’ve been strong all weekend here across every session, so we are deserving of the points we scored today and we move back into fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.”
The Team Principal ended by looking ahead to the North American double header while also congratulating Max Verstappen for securing his second world championship in Suzuka.
“It’s been a busy two weeks for the team across both Singapore and Japan and the hard work will continue as we look ahead to the next double header in Austin and Mexico in a fortnight. Congratulations to Max Verstappen on winning the title. He’s been magnificent all season and a pleasure to watch.”
Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd