“It was a fun Friday discovering this new track” – Esteban Ocon

The Alpine F1 Team had a strong start to the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix, with both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso within thousandths of the top ten, they ended the opening day eleventh and twelfth respectively.

Ocon like the majority of the paddock thoroughly enjoyed his opening day at the Losail International Circuit, the track has appeared to be an instant hit with drivers for it’s first and flowing layout. The Frenchman had a good opening day, being in and around the top ten across both of Friday’s sessions, Ocon was ninth after Free Practice One and then eleventh at the end of Free Practice Two.

All in all a good start to the weekend for Ocon, who is looking forward to qualifying.

“It was a fun Friday discovering this new track. It had some very good surprises for many reasons, so it’s been an enjoyable day. The track was high grip and it was very fast and flowing, which was awesome to drive. It brings challenges of places like Sepang and Istanbul rolled into one and that was really good fun to experience. It’s challenging for all of us to learn a new track, but the team and I prepared very well so we could be ready straight away.

“It’s about getting the car into the right set-up, finding improvements run by run and seeing what ideas on the car to improve. All in all, it’s been a productive one for us today and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in qualifying.”

“I love the layout” – Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso had a busy opening day in Qatar, with the Spaniard getting to grips on and off the circuit. The Double World Champion had to have his car thoroughly checked over during the first Friday session, after bouncing over the vicious kerbs around the circuit. Alonso was one of a number of drivers including Lewis Hamilton, who ventured a little too far off the circuit.

Alonso ended the day in twelfth, a far better position than the seventeenth place he ended the opening session in Qatar. Alonso loved experiencing the Losail International Circuit and is targeting a spot in final qualifying on Saturday.

“The circuit is really great to drive. I love the layout and how the combination of corners really gives you the feeling and ability to maximise the potential in a Formula 1 car. I was enjoying every lap, so it was a fun Friday. The grip levels were good today especially in FP2 and the car also felt solid in both sessions. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow and we need to evaluate everything overnight but el plan will be to target Q3 in qualifying tomorrow. Overall, a happy day for a happy man.”