For the first time this season, both drivers from the Alpine F1 Team finished in the top ten qualifying positions at the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix. After a poor opening race, the French team has improved steadily from race to race. Esteban Ocon led the charge as he finished in fifth position and Fernando Alonso finished in tenth position at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.
Ocon has outshone his veteran team-mate Alonso and has shown steady progress from the start of the season. The fifth position in qualification was a confirmation that the Alpine F1 team has well and truly joined the tight midfield battle. Ocon was understandably satisfied with his performance and said: “It feels very good today and I’m happy with how we managed today’s qualifying session. I think this is the confirmation we were looking for, as we’ve repeated the speed we had in Portimao at this track, which is good.
“The car has been great this weekend and I’m feeling very good at the wheel with the team around me. The factories are working hard to keep finding improvements and their hard work is paying off. Tomorrow will be a hard race and strategy will be interesting.”
Fernando Alonso: “It’s been a good weekend so far as we are in the top ten again”
Fernando Alonso has the spotlight on him at his home Grand Prix in Spain. The Spaniard has admitted he has yet to come to terms with the Alpine A521 challenger. Alonso has not qualified as well as Ocon in the last two races. The Catalunya circuit puts a premium on qualification as it is very hard to overtake. Alonso managed only to take tenth position, five places behind Ocon, on Saturday.
Alonso will however using his superior race craft to move forward in the race. Alonso said: “It’s been a good weekend so far as we are in the top ten again, the second time this season. It shows the progress of our car so that’s good.
“In terms of the session today I think my out-lap in Q3 was a little messy, so there was more time for me to find. It’s very tight and obviously very difficult to overtake in the race, but we’ll try to have a good first couple of laps and see where we end up tomorrow as anything can happen in a race.”
Both drivers will hope to score a double points finish for the third race in a row on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix.
