Alpine F1 boss Oliver Oakes praised his team's performance in Brazil and the recent progress made. The A524 was a little more effective in the dry in the hands of Pierre Gasly, qualifying in Q3, and Esteban Ocon was very quick in the Brazilian rain before they took a double podium.
“I can’t take credit for that.” Oakes said. “As we know, they're a brilliant team and I haven't been here very long. I said when I arrived that the team had been going through a difficult period for some time.”
“They had a difficult start to the season, but even before that, and I think today is a great result for them. In fact, the signs were already there just before the summer break and just after, with a bit of momentum. Zandvoort, my first race, they made me look good by giving me a point.”
“Then we had two difficult races that showed the limits of the team, the car and our performance. I think Austin, with an upgrade, showed that we had a bit of pace, and It was a bit difficult because we left empty-handed after a good qualification.”
“But with these last two rounds, it's really good to show that we have rhythm. We were all a little hurt after Baku, when a rival took a few points, and it's all to their credit and to the work they do, but it's good today to also have our own good result.”
The Briton even admits that he dreamed of victory for a few minutes before Max Verstappen overtook Ocon to take the lead. He also praised the overall performance of the world champion.
“I was a little disappointed when Max went ahead, I'm not going to lie! People will say you need a reality check, but it's obvious you do this job because you want to win. We don't show up because you don't want to win.
“The last few weekends we've made progress. But I think in the race there were moments where I said to myself, 'Okay, we can do this', but you also have to say that Max is phenomenal. These conditions, he is on another level. Nobody can take that away from him.
“For my part, I'm very proud of Pierre and Esteban. They didn't make the slightest mistake. They both absorbed a lot of pressure and they had real rhythm. It's only Max who got ahead of us, so it's a good day.”
And to confirm that Alpine's recent performances have given him confidence: “I think qualifying in Austin was good, but we struggled a little bit in the race. I would say Mexico was a good weekend in the points.”
“Here in the Dry Sprint race with Pierre we had pace. In qualifying we were very close to the back of a Mercedes and at the front of the midfield battle, so we are confident . It's difficult and you can see, from one weekend to the next, the variations in performance and teams.”
“I think we have to stay humble and take one race at a time. I'm confident. Since I arrived, everyone is very motivated and this team receives its share of criticism, people who put the knife in the bane of a podcast and all that kind of stuff, but they're pushing really hard. You can see it at Enstone and Viry, and here on the track, and they deserve it.”
