BWT Alpine F1 Team lost major ground in the battle for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with both cars not finishing the FIA Formula 1 World Championship‘s Singapore Grand Prix.
Both drivers retired early in quick succession, with reported power unit issues on both cars, that could lead to potential penalties in the coming weeks.
Fernando Alonso had a poor start losing a position to Lando Norris on his record breaking three-hundred fiftieth Grand Prix start. The Spaniard held down his position well in sixth but did lose touch to Norris up the road. After an early Safety Car, Alonso was showing why he has the most Grand Prix starts with some brilliant defending on soon to be two-time World Champion Max Verstappen, but Alonso finished the race with nothing to show for his work after his retirement on the twenty-first lap.
“It’s a pity to retire early from today’s race and it means we’ve missed out on some decent points in the championship. I think we can look at the positives and we can be very proud of our performance this weekend again.
Despite Alpine’s issues, they showed good pace up until Alonso’s retirement with the Spaniard fighting for sixth place and putting in some excellent defending against Verstappen; however, with crucial points lost in the Championship it is no consolation for him.
“We were fighting for the top five and six positions on Saturday and similar in today’s race. It was a very tricky race in difficult conditions, and it was hard to see the dry line appearing on the track. We have another race coming next weekend, so at least we can shift focus immediately to Japan and getting back into the points there.”
Esteban Ocon: “We will dust ourselves down and come back stronger in Japan”
It was a disappointing race weekend for Esteban Ocon as he missed out on a spot in Qualifying Two in qualifying. The Frenchman should have been in Qualifying Three but a problem with his brakes on his Alpine saw him miss out.
Ocon also had to retire from the race, when he was running thirteenth due to another power-unit issue. The result heaps the pressure on the team as they look to battle back with the McLaren F1 Team, to regain fourth in the Constructors’.
“It’s been a frustrating day for the team. On my side, a power unit issue ended our race early and I know the team is currently investigating the exact cause of the failure.
“It is, of course, very disappointing to leave Singapore with a double retirement but the positive we can take away is that our car has been performing well all weekend and we know we have good pace.
“We race again next week in Suzuka, my favourite track on the calendar, so right now we will dust ourselves down and come back stronger in Japan.”
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