As soon as Alpine saw that Ferrari and McLaren were faster, it set itself the goal of maintaining fifth place in the Constructors’ World Championship, which it now holds. Thanks to the good work of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon , the French team leads AlphaTauri by 10 points and Aston Martin by 42 points . Definitely a big step forward when you consider that Aston Martin (Racing Point in 2020) was third, ahead of Renault , last season. By contrast, AlphaTauri was seventh and, according to Alpine, their car is faster right now. A jug of cold water for both Alonso and Ocon, who can see the goal slip away with five races to go.
Esteban Ocon acknowledged that they know that they are not “as fast as AlphaTauri in performance .” If Alpine is ahead in the World Championship it is because of his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix and because Fernando Alonso has been in the points in 11 races for the 9 in which he has been.
“ We have been scoring points with both cars on a regular basis and that has made the difference so far and, on the other hand, obviously also our great weekend in Hungary is what has caused us to be in the position that we are ”, added Esteban Ocon .
On whether Alpine will achieve the goal, Esteban Ocon noted: “All we can do is focus on ourselves and try to do the best job we can. On paper we cannot beat them , but we are pushing hard so that both cars reach the points in each race ”.
Alonso wants an investigation
For his part, Fernando Alonso resigns himself to staying at the gates of the goal. To avoid this, he has urged his team to open an internal investigation to find out what happened at the United States Grand Prix. And it is that for the Asturian finding the answers will be key if Alpine wants to fight again for the points in Mexico, where the next race will take place.
After not being competitive neither in the Free Practice nor in the qualifying session, Fernando Alonso declared: “In the race the car was much better. I felt more competitive, I was definitely faster than the Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, even Tsunoda, teams that in free practice were faster. So it was a good step forward in the race. But it is still not as good as Sochi or Turkey ”.
“So we have to keep analyzing, probably due to potholes. The suspension with which you run here is very specific due to the characteristics of the circuit. It is something that we did not get right and we will try to analyze and be in our best form in Mexico ”, added the Spaniard.
One of Alpine’s strengths during the remaining five races is that Fernando Alonso has a new engine. The French team wanted to take advantage of the lack of competitiveness in Austin to mount a new power unit knowing that the points were going to be difficult. However, if Fernando Alonso did not score it is because his rear wing broke and he was forced to retire with four laps to go. ” We would have been in the fight for points with the Raikkonen trope, ” said the man from Oviedo.
Alpine will also have to hold on to the magic of Fernando Alonso, who in Baku was able to gain four positions on the last lap. ” The positive thing about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was Fernando’s magic to win four positions and finish sixth , which is a great reward for everyone’s hard work,” said Marcin Budkowski, executive director of the French team.
As for Esteban Ocon , it is clear that Alpine needs to score with its two drivers to contain AlphaTauri. In favor of the French plays that Formula 1 has yet to go to Sakhir, where he was second last season.
Alpine’s other cold water jug
Another jug of cold water from Alpine to Fernando Alonso came days ago when Laurent Rossi, its CEO, delayed the plan to fight for the podium regularly to 2024. “We have a long-term project. The goal is to reach a level of competitiveness that puts us on the podium as many times as possible in 2024 . From today, in fifth place, you can easily find a roadmap, “he said.
“Every year it will be a little better. It is a project for 100 races, four years . In each race we must progress. It can be a progress that is seen on the track or a progress in which not all the small details are seen. The idea is to never stop and see that we are going in the right direction. Next year will be a year to launch the coins ”, concluded Laurent Rossi.
