Friday was another positive session for Alpine, with further evidence of progress being shown.
Against a beautiful backdrop of the Styrian mountains, 20 Formula 1 cars roared to the start at the Red Bull Ring on Friday for qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 sprint race. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon again qualified for the third and final segment of qualifying, both drivers advancing from SQ2 to SQ3.
Hopes of a bigger surprise were dashed when Ocon qualified eighth and Gasly ninth, but the team welcomed the result as further evidence of their progress this F1 season.
“I’m happy to qualify third today and start eighth tomorrow,” Ocon said in the team’s post-session media report. “Once again, we’ve qualified in the top 10 as a team, which is another good performance. Qualifying third wasn’t easy as we were last on the grid.
“We may have been a little lucky with Charles. [Leclerc] “I missed the flag at the end and gained a position as a result,” Ocon added. “But it’s still positive to have a good performance and to be in a good position for the sprint race. We still have some work to do and some things to understand, but I’m happy we’re heading in the right direction.”
Leclerc’s SF-24 came to a halt in the pit lane with just a few minutes remaining in Qualifying 3. The Ferrari driver was able to start the car and get on to the track, but was unable to record a time during Qualifying 3 and will start the F1 sprint race from 10th place.
On the other side of the garage, Gasly pointed to the improved pace off the A524 as a “good sign” for tomorrow.
“It was a good sprint qualifying overall for the team today with both cars reaching SQ3,” said Gasly, who announced a new “multi-year” deal with Alpine earlier this week. “We managed SQ1 and SQ2 well, showed good pace and made progress in both sessions. [maximize] SQ3. It was a chaotic race and we didn’t get a good push lap. These are things we need to look at going forward, as we always aim to do. [maximize] Attend all sessions to get the most out of them.
“Still, I’m happy because we had good pace today and we’re in the top ten again. The cars in front of us are fast and only the top eight can score points in tomorrow’s sprint race. It’s not easy to score points but we’ll try our best and see what we can do.”
Going into the Austrian Grand Prix, one of the big questions was whether Alpine could continue their recent form, which has seen them climb to seventh in the constructors’ championship (Alpine has scored six points over the past two race weekends).
They’re certainly off to a good start.
