BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon finished fifth at the Austrian Grand Prix, achieving his best finish of the 2022 season on his hundredth Grand Prix. Ocon’s race was a simple one, using a two stop strategy and ultimately gaining a position from his starting place of sixth with the two retirements of Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez from ahead.
Ocon said that fifth was the team’s optimum position as he didn’t have the pace to compete with George Russell for fourth.
“What a day, what a weekend! I think we really maximised the pace of the car today when it really mattered. It was a great way to cap off my 100th Grand Prix in Formula 1. There were some good fights on the track today, but in the end George [Russell] was too quick and fifth position was the best we could have achieved.
Having added ten points to the championship tally, Ocon said that he is optimistic about the coming races, with his and the team’s home race coming up with the French Grand Prix.
“We go home with some very good points after this weekend, moving up to eighth in the Drivers’ Championship and now level with McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.
“As a team we are moving in the right direction and we have momentum on our side going into Paul Ricard, one of the team’s home races, and of course mine as well. It should be an incredible weekend and I can’t wait to be back in front of the home fans in two weeks’ time.”
“Ultimately, only one point from this race feels a little bit of a shame for me” – Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso started from the back of the pack after having several parts replaced as a result of an issue he faced before the start of Saturday’s sprint race, but was able to work his way up to tenth on race day to salvage a point for the team.
Alonso took an extra stop during the late-race virtual safety car caused by Sainz’s technical issue because he noticed some unusual vibrations– this lost him some positions, falling out of the points after running in seventh place.
Though disappointed that he could only bring home tenth, he was pleased with the team’s performance and the pace the car showed.
“One point is better than nothing considering we started on the back row today. I think it was one of my best races this season, other than probably at Silverstone last weekend. I think we were fighting for sixth or seventh positions, but then there were some strange vibrations on the tyres we fitted after our second stop under the Virtual Safety Car.
“As it was still under the VSC, we decided to stop again for another new set of tyres. Unfortunately, we lost some positions with this extra pit-stop and had to fight back on the last few laps. In the end we managed to take tenth position.
“Ultimately, only one point from this race feels a little bit of a shame for me, but we can be very happy with our overall pace and performance as a team this weekend.”
