The Alpine F1 Team ended up with a satisfying day in the end with a double points finish and the first points of the season for both drivers at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Italy. Esteban Ocon finished in tenth position and Fernando Alonso in eleventh position at the end of the race.
Kimi Räikkönen‘s 30-second penalty dropped him from ninth position to thirteenth position. This promoted Ocon to ninth position and Alonso to tenth position after a tough race for both drivers.
Ocon started on the full wet tyres and switched to the intermediate tyres under the Safety Car in the second lap. The Frenchman battled hard to overtake Räikkönen and take ninth position. The experienced Finn kept him at bay, but the post-race penalty helped Ocon take ninth position later.
Ocon speaking before the promotion said: “It was a challenging race today in hard conditions. There were lots of opportunities out there, we managed to score a point, a decent result and a good reward for the team’s hard work. There was potentially more on the table.
“It was a long, physical race and flat out right until the end after the restart. I had some fun fights out there, especially with Fernando. Now, we look forward to the next race weekend.”
Fernando Alonso – “It was tricky today as we had several different conditions”
Alonso scored his first point after his return to Formula 1. The Spaniard had a poor qualification as he started in fifteenth position. A mishap on the way to the grid saw him damage his front-wing. After an eventful race in mixed conditions, Alonso battled his team-mate Ocon for the final point. The eleventh position was converted into tenth position and a solitary point after Räikkönen’s penalty.
Alonso felt he was still not comfortable in the car and said: “It was tricky today as we had several different conditions, starting the race in the wet and finishing in the dry. I took a lot of learnings after driving in these conditions again. In Formula 1, you don’t get any preparation, and with one and a half days of testing it’s not easy.
“Overall, I would say it was like four race experiences all in one. I think the car is better this weekend, which is positive but it’s still very tight between a number of cars. We’ll go again in Portugal.”
The updates the Alpine F1 team brought to the second race of the season helped them score points in the race. The team has a lot of work ahead to make an impression in a tight midfield battle.
