The Alpine team heads into the 2022 F1 United States Grand Prix with fourth place in the constructors’ championship under their belt after managing to finish both of their cars in the points at the last round in Japan, although they must pay attention to McLaren, since only 13 units separate the two teams from their final objective.
With Esteban Ocon they reaped a good booty, since the French driver was quite a wall against a Lewis Hamilton who was desperate for the poor top speed of his Mercedes W13, although with Fernando Alonso they had to make a comeback due to a late pit stop to mount a new set of intermediate tires.
Precisely the Asturian wants to return to American lands with a better taste in his mouth than in the country of the Rising Sun, and on the day before the start of the race at the Circuit of the Americas [COTA], he assured that he was happy to travel to the place where he stood on the podium at the 2012 inauguration.
“It’s a good track to compete,” said the Spaniard who is in ninth place in the general classification. “It usually offers exciting racing and there are overtaking opportunities. I’ve always loved coming to America to race.”
“This season we’ve already done one test in Miami, and next year there will be three grands prix [a new addition to Las Vegas]. The Austin circuit has a good mix of straights and curves, and has a lot of undulations and wide turns.” , explained the two-time Asturian champion.
“Sector 1 is especially fun, but it is also a real challenge. The fans have fallen in love with this sport and we are guaranteed a great atmosphere with full stands,” said the Alpine man.
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For his part, the director of the French team, Otmar Szafnauer , also expressed his joy at returning to the place where his father was born and where he studied at university: “It’s always great when we race in the United States, my land, especially in Austin, which is a favorite of many of us in Formula 1.”
“It’s a very demanding circuit that usually offers good racing with a fast first sector, the long back straight and some low speed corners towards the end, which offers some overtaking opportunities,” continued the American. “For Singapore and Japan we have introduced a new floor to the car, which has worked as expected.”
“Mostly we saw the improvements at Suzuka, which is a more conventional circuit than Marina Bay, and we were satisfied with its performance, which bodes well for the coming races,” said the Enstone team’s chief executive. “For Austin, we brought a little modification to the outer section of the last floor, which is our last update of the year.”
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