Esteban Ocon seemed pleased with the progress that BWT Alpine F1 Team made in the Friday practice sessions in Jeddah as the teams step up preparation for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Ocon will be hoping for a much easier weekend than the one he had in Bahrain, where he received a number of penalties and later had to retire from the race. Friday was a much smoother day for the Frenchman and he made good progress across the two sessions.
The one-time race winner managed a modest twelfth in FP1 but upped the pace in FP2 to finish ahead of a lot of the team’s rivals, including Lance Stroll to finish fourth. While Ocon knows that Alpine are not capable of a top-four finish, it bodes well for the weekend, where Ocon must have a good race to get back on track.
“It’s nice to come back to a track like Jeddah as it’s a really fast and thrilling street circuit, which forces everyone to be on their toes at all times. Our Friday was productive where we tried different things, which will help us in both Qualifying and Race conditions.
“So far, the car feels strong, and I think there is more we can extract ahead of tomorrow evening’s Qualifying. The team did a great job today to get through the programme and we will be working hard tonight to be in a good place for tomorrow. All in all, it’s been a good day at the office.”
Pierre Gasly: “I’ve been pleased with today’s work”
Much like his team-mate and fellow countryman, Pierre Gasly was pleased with the progress throughout the two sessions as Alpine look to step up and improve from a bit of a disappointing opening weekend in Bahrain.
Gasly scored points in Bahrain, albeit only two, and could have scored more if he wasn’t starting out of place at the rear of the grid due to a mistake in qualifying. Gasly had a good opening day in Jeddah, beating his team-mate in FP1 and being able to sandwich the Mercedes of George Russell in FP2 with his team-mate in sixth position.
Gasly, a race winner in Monza back in 2020, will be hoping for a much smoother Saturday than at the previous race weekend as he looks to score more points for his new team.
“It’s great to be back here in Jeddah at this very fast and exciting race track. It’s been a busy day for us as we continue to learn about our 2023 package and, I must say, I’ve been pleased with today’s work.
“After two weeks in Bahrain, it’s nice to be taking on a new track and a new challenge. It’s very high-speed here and there’s a lot you have to get right to be quick. The car feels good, we have a good idea on the set-up direction we want to take and there’s more to come from us this weekend.
“My focus is on working hard with the engineers to make sure we’re well prepared for Qualifying and returning with a better performance than we showed last time out.”
