17/07/2024
NEWS STORY
Bruno Famin, Team Principal: After a week of honest reflection and debriefing back at base, we came away from the mid-season European triple header with some positives - notably our performance all weekend in Spain - as well as some harsh learning curves like our entire weekend in Silverstone.
We must do better. We have to get rid of the recurring reliability problems and bring more performance to the car. We demonstrated in Spain our general level of performance is improving and, no doubt, will continue to get better. The whole team is working tirelessly on this.
This is a very intense period on the Formula 1 calendar as we head to Budapest and then Spa for the double header before the summer break. It's two very different circuits; Budapest being filled with fast and flowing corners where we run high downforce, while Spa features high speed turns and long straights where finding a compromise on aero efficiency is a key performance differentiator. Budapest is set to be an incredibly hot weekend with high temperatures to contend with. We aim for a strong weekend performance across the board and return to the points.
Esteban Ocon: We did not execute the weekend well in Silverstone. We made too many mistakes as a team, which meant we were fighting a losing battle from the start. This was only added to in the race when we did not optimise the strategy and we dropped back through the field as a result. I have been at Enstone this week, working hard in the simulator in preparation for Hungary. I have some great memories there with the team - of course that win in 2021 is right at the top - and we will be looking to come back stronger after a weekend to forget in Silverstone.
The Hungarian Grand Prix will always be a special race for me as it's where I had my first win, which was also the team's first win as Alpine. It is one of my favourite circuits on the calendar and one I always love to race. It is a great track to drive with high downforce and lots of consecutive, flowing corners. Overtaking can be tricky with the only real opportunities in the first sector, so it puts more emphasis on maximising Qualifying performance. The weather is forecast to be hot, so strategy will also come into play to help with tyre management. I am looking forward to the atmosphere in Budapest, the city truly embraces Formula 1 when we come to visit, and the fans always bring the best energy.
Esteban's victory in 2021 was also the 50th race victory for the Enstone constructor, through their histories as Toleman (0), Benetton (27), Renault (20), Lotus (2) and Alpine (1).
Pierre Gasly: Silverstone was always likely to be a challenging weekend with the power unit grid penalty, but still, it was a huge pity to not start the race with a gearbox issue. The changing weather offered some huge opportunities that we would have tried to capitalise on, just like Montréal, but it was not to be and we must learn and fix these issues going forwards. Everyone in the team works incredibly hard and the latest triple-header was no different and it's disappointing for everyone that we could not get a result. We know what needs to be improved and I'm excited by what we have in the pipeline. We are going to give it our all before the summer break in two weeks' time, beginning in Hungary this weekend.
The Hungaroring is a full-on track but it's one of the most enjoyable to drive on the calendar. The circuit is like go-karting because its corner after corner and you don't have too much time to rest on the straights. It's busy for the whole lap and you need to find a rhythm, so that's the challenge, which I love. It looks like conditions will be extremely hot too so the full race distance will be a really tough one for all the drivers from a physical point of view. After a hard Silverstone, we want to return to Q3 and strive for points this weekend and put ourselves in a better position before the summer break.
Pierre's first Hungarian GP for Alpine was unexpectedly short, but the Frenchman has finished in the top six in three of his other five starts at the Hungaroring.