Alpine F1
Fernando Alonso
"It was a crazy race tonight. I think when the first red flag was waved the race was over for us. We opted to stop and were in a very good position, and realistically we could have been fifth or sixth had it all fallen into place. They stopped the race and we were very unlucky there. Every time there seems to be a red flag or a situation like that we are on the wrong side of things. I think it was a bit dangerous racing amongst all the debris today and to not have a full Safety Car. Nothing happened in the end which was good. We scored good points with Esteban today, but we need to make sure our pace is back for Abu Dhabi and we end the season on a positive."
Esteban Ocon
"I gave it my all today. The competitor inside of me is disappointed to miss out on the podium by such a short distance, but I'm very proud of the whole team today. What we achieved is outstanding and to take fourth place and add 12 more points in the bag in the championship is what counts. We took the right decisions in the race; we did everything we could on track and on strategy at the right moments, which put us in the best possible position to take big points. It was quite fun to start on pole position too – I've not done that since 2015 in GP3 – but I knew my race was not with Lewis and Max in front. That said, the opportunity was there today and we can leave here with our heads high and feeling very proud. We move onto Abu Dhabi ready to finish the season on a high and take any opportunity that might come up."
Marcin Budkowski, executive director
"Some good points today to consolidate fifth in the championship... but that result does hurt! What a race from Esteban - he drove exceptionally well and only just got beaten by a much quicker car on the line. He had a very good start and gained two positions in the first lap, then kept the pace up until the first race interruption. We elected to stop Fernando during the Safety Car because we didn't think it would turn into a red flag, and this compromised his race as he wasn't in a position to get back into the points. We didn't stop Esteban to preserve his good track position, which even turned into pole position at the second restart. He managed his race perfectly and really deserved a podium today. Losing it for a few metres is a bitter feeling, especially since after the race we discovered he had picked up some damage to his floor on lap 48, which cost him lap time, but to be disappointed with fourth shows how strong a race we had. After two very good races for the Team, we aim to finish on a high in Abu Dhabi."
