Esteban Ocon: It was good to have a few weeks off for the summer break to unwind and relax. I was able to spend some quality time with friends and family, and recentre myself before we head into the second part of the season. We ended on a positive in Spa before everyone headed home for the break, securing another point scoring finish and my best of the season so far. It truly shows the hard work the team has been putting in both trackside and at the factories to progress to this point after a challenging start to the season. Now the break is over, and we are all ready to get back racing!

The first race back after a break always provides a good feeling and the atmosphere in Zandvoort is particularly incredible. The dedication and energy the Dutch fans bring to the weekend can really motivate you as a driver. The circuit itself is a challenging one with its tight corners and high speed but I love racing around it. There is little room for error so you have to be laser focused at all times and the opportunities for overtaking are limited which means that qualifying will be
important for us to make the most out of the weekend.

Pierre Gasly: It has been really nice to spend the last couple of weeks after Spa chilling out and relaxing with my family and friends... and Dog! After a challenging first part of the year, the whole team deserved time to switch off and reset and time in the sun has definitely helped. It was non-stop from Bahrain to Belgium and during that time we progressed well. Considering we were on the back row at the first race, to show the pace we did in some of the recent races is really promising for the rest of the season. It would have been nice to have both cars in the top ten before the break but our target remains to continuously add performance to the car and hopefully get ourselves into Q3 and into the points at as many races as we can.

It's brilliant to be heading back to Zandvoort for the next parr of the season. Last year was obviously a great weekend with a podium finish and a hectic race in mixed conditions. It's something I will look back on with great memories as it was my first Grand Prix podium with Alpine. We had to work hard for it, we made some bold and decisive calls that went our way, and, I must say, we deserved it. I'm a big fan of the old school, tight and twisty tracks and this one is relentless. There's no room for error which makes every lap exciting for the drivers as well as the wild Dutch fans. You can overtake at this track, but it is very hard so qualifying and strategy are going to be very important. I'm really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel this weekend and going racing again.