Alpine
Pierre Gasly
“That was a really hard-earned point today, which we can be pleased to achieve. It was certainly a long afternoon at the wheel! I had a good start off the line to gain a few positions and then some quite interesting battles on track. We had a bit of damage from some contact so we probably could not show our full potential as a result of that. I think had some circumstances come our way we could have been fighting even higher up.
"There are a lot of positives to take and I am sure we will put the hours in this week as there are so many things to learn ahead of next week. The racing is certainly different. It brought a lot of new challenges today and there are so many tactics and factors that now come into play. Now that we have seen a race unfold there are so many new tricks for us to understand and implement for next time.
"I enjoyed it, it was busy for the entire race, and there is so much for us to now take on. Next week we have the Sprint weekend in China where we have to be on it straight away and up to speed quickly. I leave here happy so well done to the entire team.”
Franco Colapinto
“Based purely on the result, it's not where we wanted to be, however there's definitely some positives to take away with the race pace and data we gathered, which we can learn from for future races. From where we started on the grid, it was always going to be difficult and ultimately the penalty for a start infringement cost us from fighting further up. We win and lose as a team and we're in it together.
"I was actually lucky to finish the race, as it almost ended at the start with a scary moment trying to avoid [Liam] Lawson who was very slow off the line. I almost went straight into the back of him and managed to see him at the last minute. I swerved to the right and squeezed between him and the pit wall. I think I touched the wall, but thankfully we didn't suffer any serious damage and we got through the first lap unscathed.
"Despite the result, I think from where we started the weekend, we can be pleased with how the car felt and performed, especially in race trim which is comparable with some of our midfield rivals. Well done to Pierre also for getting a point to start the season.”
Steve Nielsen, Managing Director
“We leave Australia with a point in the bag after Pierre's tenth place finish. It was a very busy race at the wheel for him with a lot of hard battles on track and, in the end, he secured a strong result after showing a lot of resilience and skill in a challenging scenario where so many factors have to be considered. Unfortunately, an operational error on Franco's side meant he had to serve a penalty which ended any chances of him scoring points.
"This is something we, as a team, take on the chin and can only apologise to Franco as this was out of his control. He would have taken a lot of experience from today's race and I am sure he will spend a lot of time with the team, and with Pierre, on some of those new skills drivers now have to deploy while racing.
"From a sporting point of view, we experienced a very unique Grand Prix with different tactics and tricks coming into play and some interesting takes on racing up and down the field. This is day one in the new era of Formula One and I think we can all be satisfied with the outcome of today's race. Our attention turns to next weekend's Chinese Grand Prix Sprint where a new challenge is presented.”
