BWT Alpine F1 Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer described the Spanish Grand Prix as a “tough” campaign where strategy played a major role. The team ended up with five points on the board between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, both earning top ten results for the third round in a row.
“We come away from the Spanish Grand Prix with five points after Esteban finished eighth and Pierre tenth. It was a tough race with varying strategies and gameplans.”
Ocon had a strong qualifying to start in sixth, though he wasn’t quite able to hang onto the position on race day– Szafnauer said that there are some improvements that they’ll aim be looking to make for the Canadian Grand Prix.
“For Esteban he did a good job to be in the mix for the top six, just missing out in the end and there are certainly a couple of aspects from his race to be improved for next time.”
On the other side of the garage, Szafnauer praised Gasly’s ability to recover from his grid penalty– which saw him drop from an impressive fourth place down to tenth– as well as a rough start to the race that lost him four positions.
“Pierre already lost six places due to the grid penalty after a superb qualifying yesterday where he was fourth and then lost another four positions on lap one after being caught on the wrong side of a scrum of cars in the opening turns. He did a great job to recover those places in the end to score a point.”
Having been on a roll with double-points finishes in recent rounds, Szafnauer wants to aim higher in coming rounds and take home larger sums of points as they continue to develop the car.
“Of course, we are aiming for more than minor points – like last week in Monaco – but the performance of the car is solid and we’re taking the fight to those ahead.
“There are some things we must improve – small details to get right – and we look forward to racing in Canada later this month ready to keep battling for those higher positions.”
With the double-header concluded, Alpine remains fifth in the constructors’ championship with forty points, and have extended their lead on McLaren F1 Team. Sixty points separate the French outfit from Scuderia Ferrari in fourth.
