Esteban Ocon: “There’s one more to go, so let’s make it the best one yet”

BWT Alpine F1 Team driver Esteban Ocon reflected on a good qualifying session for himself and the team as he will start eighth on the grid at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.

Ocon made it into his eleventh Q3 appearance of the season with a time of 1:24.830 on a new set of Red soft tyres. He just missed out on seventh place by 0.061 seconds to Lando Norris.

Ocon currently sits in eighth place in the Drivers’ Championship on eighty-six points as Alpine look to close in on a fourth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship.

The French team find themselves nineteen points ahead of their rivals McLaren F1 Team as we head into the final Grand Prix of the season. Ocon will be hoping that he can score some vital points for Alpine on Sunday to help the team clinch fourth place in the standings.

“I’m very pleased with today’s Qualifying so a big well done to the team for one of our best sessions of the season. Every run felt like we made a step as we tried to maximise the performance of the car today.”

“Our main competitors are quick this weekend, perhaps quicker than we originally thought, so we will need to be focused tomorrow to have a good race and bring back some points. There’s one more to go, so let’s make it the best one yet.”

Fernando Alonso: “I will be looking to make the most of the race tomorrow and hopefully end on a high with the team”

Fernando Alonso shared his thoughts after qualifying, which saw him exit out of Q2 in eleventh place, as the Spaniard will start the race on Sunday in tenth after Daniel Ricciardo was handed a three place grid penalty for his collision with Kevin Magnussen last weekend in Brazil.

As we approach the last race of the 2022, it will also be the last race for Alonso at Alpine as he moves to Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team from 2023.

Alonso was able to get through Q1 by just 0.052 seconds as he seemed to be lacking pace around the Yas Marina Circuit. He wouldn’t have the same luck in Q2 as he missed out on the top ten by only 0.028 seconds. Fortunately, Alonso will start from tenth on Sunday due to Ricciardo’s grid penalty.

“We didn’t quite have the pace in Qualifying today, so in the end, I think we can be quite happy to be starting tenth for the race. It was close in Q1 and less than a tenth separated a number of cars in Q2.”

“We know it will be difficult to overtake tomorrow, but we’ll try our best to have some fun and gain some places inside the top ten. It’s the last time I will jump in the car with Alpine, so I will be looking to make the most of the race tomorrow and hopefully end on a high with the team.”

Fernando Alonso’s final race for Alpine at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022. Credit: Alpine Racing Media Centre.