MIAMI — Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce might want to check in with their Formula 1 team more often.
After a slow start to the 2024 F1 season, Alpine finally broke through at Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix. After weeks of development, close calls and progress, Esteban Ocon’s 10th place finish earned the team its first points of the season. The result lifted them from the bottom of the F1 constructors’ standings to eighth place, ahead of Sauber and Williams.
On the other side of the garage, Pierre Gasly finished 12th, his best result of the season.
All week here in Miami, Ocon, Gasly and Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan talked about the progress the team is making with the A524. Both drivers qualified for Q2 on Saturday night, with Ocon starting the race in 12th and 13th, the teams’ best starting positions all season.
“I think I can be satisfied,” Gasly told the media after qualifying. SB Nation. “And that just shows that we’re heading in the right direction. ”
And on Sunday’s drive from Ocon, the Alpine driver overtook Nico Hulkenberg to claim the final points. Speaking to the media after the race, Ocon admitted that the story might have been different if the Miami Grand Prix had been a few laps longer.
“Today, maybe 10 more laps, Nico would have been close to fighting us again,” Ocon told the media, including the media. SB Nation, after the Miami Grand Prix. “I had to fight my way through that race. It was insane how many moves I had to make.”
Ocon also put into perspective the team’s journey to get to this point.
“We’re not going to jump up and down or celebrate too hard. Obviously, it’s just a top 10,” Ocon said. “But, you know, if you think about where we were in Bahrain a few races ago, we were 19th and 20th. I think we can take positive things from this race and what we’re working on at the moment. It’s just a small step.
“It’s obviously a good feeling because the team kept motivated and kept trying to figure out what was going on with our pace. I don’t think it was a smooth weekend by any means, but it’s this close to the point. Two races. In Shanghai I was 11th and today I am 10th,” Ocon continued. “We’re in the points and it feels good to get some reward from this weekend.”
Team principal Bruno Famin praised the “flawless” performance of the entire organization.
“Today was our first point of the season so from a sporting point of view it’s a satisfying result for us. We had a clear plan and one car pitted early and undershot the cars around us. While he tried to cut it, the other car took a gamble by running a long first stint in hopes of winning. [Virtual Safety Car], [Safety Car], or a red flag scenario,” Famin said. “This is how things went this time, and it was Esteban who took the points in 10th place.
“It was a perfect race and everyone on the team – strategy, race management, pit stops – we worked hard enough to put ourselves in a position that benefits the team. We have to continue to work hard to continue to fight for the goal of returning to Europe next time.”
Not to be outdone by a perfect weekend for the team’s F1 academy driver Abi Pring. Pull dominated the field this weekend, starting wire-to-wire and winning both races. Pule has increased her lead over Mercedes’ Dorine Pin in the F1 Academy Championship to 34 points.
All in all, it was a great weekend for the Alpines, but there are probably some reasons why Mahomes and Kelce will be playing more often.
