Davide Brivio, the Racing Director of the Alpine F1 Team, felt the team did a good job during Friday’s running at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, despite a collision between Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez costing the team some valuable track time in the morning.
Ocon and Pérez collided on the entrance of the Variante Villeneuve chicane, with both drivers being forced to stop at the side of the track with damage. The incident brought out the first of three red flags across the two one-hour sessions.
Fernando Alonso ended the first session inside the top ten in seventh, while the hindered Ocon was down in seventeenth. However, with his Alpine A521 repaired, it was the Frenchman who would find himself ahead in the afternoon, with Ocon eleventh and Alonso thirteenth.
Qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is likely to be extremely important this weekend, with overtaking likely to be difficult despite an extended DRS zone, and Brivio says they will be doing everything they can to give both drivers the chance of excelling on Saturday afternoon.
“We did a good job today in Friday practice,” said Brivio. “This morning we had the small accident with Esteban. It wasn’t a big issue and there were no major concerns, meaning we could continue with our work for the second session.
“In the afternoon, we did some short runs and then long runs with different tyres on both cars and showed good pace. Both drivers are quite happy after today. Of course, we know qualifying will be important here.
“It’s a track where overtaking is difficult, so we have to put a lot of effort into tomorrow and aim to put both cars in a good starting position for the race.”
