Photo: BWT Alpine F1 Team
A messy red flag restart was the final hurdle for the drivers to conquer. Unfortunately, both Alpine’s fell victim to the pile-up when Pierre Gasly, re-joining the track at turn 2, caught the front left wheel of his team-mate Esteban Ocon sending both Frenchmen into the barrier.
Both drivers were on track to get valuable points for the championship when Kevin Magussen’s Haas swiped the wall coming out of turn 2, taking off his right rear tyre and bringing out the safety car which changed to a red flag.
Innocent by-stander Esteban Ocon said: “It’s a real shame for both cars not to finish today’s race, especially after showing great pace all weekend.
“The restart at the end was very chaotic and I’m glad we’re both OK.”
Thankfully for the team the incident didn’t cause any issues between the drivers, and both drivers look forward to working together: “We’ve spoken about it and there’s no hard feelings.
“We’re both looking forward to the next one and I know the whole team will want to put this weekend behind us.”
Team Principal, Otmar Szafnauer, despite the result was able to take some
positives from the team’s performance this weekend.
“While it’s disappointing leaving here with zero points, we can be satisfied and positive with the performance of the car today.
“We showed we can race with our close rivals ahead and, indeed, close cars down and be clinical when it counts.”
Alpine finished fourth in the constructors’ standings last year and hoped that Mercedes and Ferrari’s slow development would help the Enstone team break into the top 3 this season.
Currently sitting in sixth with eight points, Alpine will need a good weekend in Baku to close the 46 point to gap to Mercedes in third.
Alpine drive forwards towards Baku with the Australian Grand Prix in their rear-view mirror where an optimistic Szafnauer is ready: “We’ll keep moving forwards and these hard moments are what bring the team closer together.
“We’re already looking forward to Baku where an upgrade is planned.”
