Alpine drivers move on after ‘nothing good for us’ Baku weekend

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a weekend to forget for Alpine, with the French outfit plagued by a barrage of setbacks that left the team and its drivers thoroughly frustrated.

Esteban Ocon's weekend was marred by reliability issues. After a precautionary power unit change during FP1, Ocon’s running time was further reduced when his car came to a halt in FP2.

As if that wasn't enough, additional power unit component changes forced him to start his race from the pit lane. But despite his best efforts, Ocon could only manage a 15th-place finish.

Reflecting on the weekend, Ocon was candid about the team's struggles.

“We will turn the page, there’s nothing good for us this weekend,” he admitted, his frustration clear.

“Our focus must be towards the next race, which comes in a few days’ time in Singapore. As a team, we will regroup and concentrate on maximising all available running time to build the performance and be race ready and get a chance to fight in the points.”

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2024 Azerbaijan GP

On the other side of the Alpine garage, Pierre Gasly had an equally difficult start to his weekend when he was disqualified from qualifying for a fuel mass flow breach.

This technical oversight meant he would start from the back of the grid, which all but dashed any hopes of a competitive result in Baku.

However, Gasly’s performance on race day turned out to be a surprising silver lining amidst the dark clouds that had gathered over Alpine.

He managed to climb from 18th on the grid to 12th by the end of the race, pulling off a massive tyre-saving stint that saw him complete 50 laps out of 51 on Pirelli’s hard compound tyre.

He only pitted on the penultimate lap, switching to softs when it became clear a Safety Car wouldn’t materialize.

“On one side, I think it was the best race of the year on my side driving-wise, I was at the absolute limit every single lap, every single corner, and there was nothing else in it,” Gasly reflected, somewhat proud of his efforts.

However, that satisfaction was tempered by the reality of Alpine’s struggles.

“On the other side, we were dead slow the entire race and it was painful to see the others passing by – I just had no pace. We knew Monza and Baku were the two worst tracks for us. Last year in Singapore we scored points, so hopefully we can bounce back there.”

Gasly’s words painted a clear picture of Alpine’s current form: strong individual performances marred by a car that simply isn’t competitive.

Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes echoed those concerns, acknowledging that the Enstone squad’s issues ran deeper than just the drivers.

Alpine’s poor reliability across the weekend left them unable to fight, and the weekend’s results were a bitter pill to swallow, especially as they dropped a place to Williams in the constructors' standings.

“Ultimately, we did not have the reliability to compete this weekend, and it’s something we need to analyse and quickly address, especially as we’ve dropped a place in the championship standings,” Oakes admitted.

“We’ll look to bounce back in Singapore, where we need to re-find some of the performance and form we had around the summer break.”

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