BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon discussed the disappointment of suffering a second consecutive double-retirement at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with him and team-mate Pierre Gasly getting caught up in a first lap incident which resulted in significant damage to both cars.
With it being an essentially unavoidable incident, Ocon said that all the team can do is put the outcome of Hungary behind them and set their sights on the second half of the double-header, the Belgian Grand Prix.
“It was very frustrating for the entire team to have a double retirement on Sunday, especially in such circumstances so early into the race. There wasn’t much Pierre or I could do and we have no choice but to move on and focus on this weekend where we hope to bounce back quickly.”
Ocon looks forward to taking on Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and said that he is not suffering any lingering effects from the crash. He hopes to “maximise” the added scoring opportunities offered by the Sprint format, as the team will be hoping to recover from two weekends of points lost.
“Despite the significant impact of the crash on Sunday, I am feeling OK physically and very motivated to race in Belgium. Given this weekend’s Sprint format, we have the chance to take points on both Saturday and Sunday, so we will be doing all we can to maximise our opportunities.”
“I’m feeling even more determined for a strong outcome from the weekend ahead of the summer break” – Pierre Gasly
Gasly emphasised the importance of coming together as a team to move forward from the discouraging results of the past two weekends, and hopes that the upgrade they are bringing to Spa might offer them added pace that they need to catch up to the competitors in the recent development rush.
“As a team, it’s important we stick together, keep our heads down and keep working hard to bring better results. We have an upgrade this weekend and hopefully that will all go to plan and bring some additional performance to the car which we need now.”
The French driver shared the same sentiments as his team-mate with regards to the Sprint weekend, as they will look to capitalise on both Saturday and Sunday to retrieve as many points as they can before Summer shutdown.
“It’s another Sprint weekend, which brings more opportunities to score points. We will target a solid Practice session before we go into Qualifying on Friday night. I’m feeling even more determined for a strong outcome from the weekend ahead of the summer break.”
Alpine goes into the Belgian Grand Prix with forty-seven points on the tally, currently ranked sixth in the constructors’ standings after being leapfrogged by the vastly-improved McLaren F1 Team.
