23/10/2024
NEWS STORY
BWT Alpine Formula One Team heads to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for Round 20 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon: It was unfortunate that our race in Austin was spent recovering after being hit from behind at Turn 1 and spinning to the back of the field. We worked really hard to regain a few positions during the race and ran a very long first stint to gain an offset, but a points finish was not possible. We decided at the end to pit for fresh Soft tyres to attempt the Fastest Lap, which we managed to achieve, meaning our direct rivals were unable to score the bonus point that comes with it. Our upgraded car performed well though, particularly on Saturday and we can take these positives through to the Mexico City Grand Prix.
I'm looking forward to returning to Mexico City this weekend. It's an exciting circuit with a mega atmosphere. One of the best parts for all the drivers is the packed stadium section, it's always really special to drive through there and it gets me even more hyped before the start of the race. The track is good to drive and the car handles differently to nearly everywhere else on the calendar because of the high altitude. We will use our learnings from the upgrades in Austin to extract as much performance as possible to maximise the weekend.
Esteban set the fastest lap in a Grand Prix for the first time in his career in Austin.
Pierre Gasly: Sunday in Austin was slightly disappointing for us especially with high expectations starting in sixth. We had a lot of potential to achieve a good points finish but unfortunately the race did not go our way. It's a pity we were unable to capitalise on our best starting position of the year. We had a slow pit-stop as we tried to cover Magnussen but really, once we got onto the Hard tyre, we lacked the pace and struggled with car balance. We have a lot to learn about our package, but on the positive side, our upgrades have showed to have potential and we will work hard to extract even more from the car in the upcoming races.
I'm looking forward to getting straight back to it in Mexico City this weekend. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a very unique track being at such high altitude. The thin air means we have to run with high downforce wings but the car still feels light to drive and we hit some of the highest speeds of the season down the long main straight. It's a very different challenge to Austin but we will do our best to use everything we learned in Texas about the car and have a stronger weekend.
Pierre scored his and the team's highest start of the season when he was sixth on the grid in Austin, coming within 0.688s of pole position.