Alpine F1
Fernando Alonso
"Unfortunately we couldn't finish the race today after a strong start, good stints, which meant we looked set to score some good points. I felt very fast in both stints, first on the Mediums and then with the Hard tyres. However, we lost a cylinder on the engine with 18 laps to go, which eventually forced us to stop the car despite our best efforts. Austin and Mexico were two very good weekends for me, and it's a pity we didn't score the points we deserved. We have two more race weekends to go, and we need to make sure we score more points in our battle for fourth position."
Esteban Ocon
"It was a tough race for the team today. We were on for an important, double points finish before Fernando's unfortunate retirement. On my side, we were struggling with cooling issues towards the latter half of the race and we had to manage that, which meant we couldn't match the pace of the McLarens at the end, narrowly missing out on catching Daniel's [Ricciardo] time penalty. We come away with some points, but we need to ensure these issues don't happen again if we are to stay fourth in the championship."
Otmar Szafnauer, team principal
"This race was always going to prove challenging with the unique conditions in Mexico City and we leave here disappointed in the fact we only had one car see the chequered flag. Unfortunately, Fernando suffered a cylinder failure on lap 52 and he was having to manage on five cylinders – meaning a significant lack of power - to try and remain inside the points. Eventually the problem was not sustainable, and he had to retire the car. Esteban faced a challenge with some cooling issues from quite early on in the race where he had to lift and coast and therefore, he sacrificed significant lap time. He did well to bring the car home in eighth place and score some valuable points for the team. We know reliability is going to be the key in our championship battle and it's something that has let us down after showing such a strong level of performance in recent races. I'm confident we can rectify these issues going into the final two races of the season."
