It was a setback for Alpine at Silverstone. The French team, coming off four races with at least one car in the points, lost its top streak. Pierre Gasly did not even take part in the race, while Esteban Ocon was penalised by incorrect strategy. Ocon was very open about the mistakes made in the strategy department.
To complete the disastrous picture, Alpine’s rivals scored important points. Haas secured another 8 points with Nico Hulkenberg, whilst Alex Albon scored another 2 points for Williams.
OCON: “WE MADE THE WRONG SINGLE DECISION AT THE START”
The British Grand Prix certainly marked a new chapter in the troubled relationship between Esteban Ocon and Alpine. The Frenchman openly criticised the team’s actions, with the Alpine pit wall poorly interpreting the race.
Ocon was called into the pits for intermediates on lap 19, making the same mistake as Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. Unlike them, however, Ocon returned to slick tyres after just two laps before stopping again on lap 26 when the rain began to intensify again. He ended the race in a very underwhelming P16.
The constant back and forth in the pit lane understandably exasperated Ocon, who was quite harsh in his comments:
“The final result concludes what has been a difficult weekend for the team, in which we didn’t score any points. We basically made every single wrong decision from the start of the weekend on everything. The car, the strategy, everything.
“When the track was suitable for slicks, we were on Intermediates – when the track was suitable for Intermediates, we were on slicks. When the track was suitable for low downforce, we were on high downforce… It was a very difficult race from start to finish.
“There’s nothing to learn from this weekend. We just need to focus on the next one and move on from this one .”
GASLY: “SOMETHING WAS WRONG AS SOON AS WE LEFT THE GARAGE”
Silverstone was a particularly frustrating weekend for Pierre Gasly. Forced to start from the back of the grid after fitting his fifth power unit of the season, the Frenchman had barely taken part in qualifying, already knowing he couldn’t improve his position. Unfortunately for him, his Grand Prix never even started, as he was forced to bring his A524 back to the pits as soon as the formation lap was over.
The Alpine driver explained that the problem with his car became apparent as soon as he left the garage:
“We immediately noticed that something was wrong when the car was leaving the garage, and we suspected it was a gearbox problem. We knew it could happen at the start of the race and, in the end, I came in straight after the formation lap and had to retire.
“Because of the grid penalty for the engine change, it was already a compromised weekend on my side. It’s a shame that I couldn’t take part in the race to at least try to fight. With the weather so unstable, there could have been some opportunities for us. We need to analyse what exactly happened to make sure the same problem doesn’t happen again .”
FAMIN: “WE DIDN’T GIVE THE PILOTS THE CHANCE TO FIGHT”
Team principal Bruno Famin, while acknowledging the lessons learned at Silverstone, was keen to find a positive aspect of Alpine’s weekend:
“Clearly, it was a difficult weekend for the team. It’s something we need to learn from and apply ourselves better in the future to do better. We didn’t give our drivers a fighting chance. One positive aspect from today is the work done in the pit stops, where we made significant steps forward .”
As mentioned, the zero at Silverstone interrupts what had become the best moment of the Alpine season. After a disastrous start, thanks to an overweight and aerodynamically deficient A524, the progress of the French car has been evident in the last month and a half.
The updates introduced have lightened the single-seater by about 4 kg, also improving its operability and balance. New parts are expected in the next grand prix to resume the positive trend, also taking advantage of the work of David Sanchez, hired as Executive Technical Director in recent months and immediately set to work.
Added to this is the work at the managerial level of Flavio Briatore, who returned to the Enstone team as executive advisor after the call from Luca De Meo, President of the Renault group.
The next race in Budapest will represent an opportunity for redemption to resume growth after the British misstep, as promised by Famin:
“We will do a collective debriefing, we will work tirelessly to find improvements, and we will come back stronger in Budapest in two weeks.”
