For the second time in a row, the Alpine team saw its two drivers qualify in the top ten during the Sprint qualifying session held this Friday in Austria on the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg.
Like last weekend in Barcelona, Alpine created a surprise in qualifying since its two drivers managed to reach SQ3 quite easily at the wheel of a car which has not yet evolved for a few races now.
This Saturday at the start of the Sprint race of the Austrian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon will start from eighth place, while his teammate Pierre Gasly will start from ninth place just in front of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
« I’m happy to have reached SQ3 today and to start eighth tomorrow.” said Esteban Ocon this Friday evening in Spielberg.
“The team was in the top ten again in qualifying, so it’s another good performance. The SQ3 was far from straightforward as we were at the back of the queue exiting the pits. »
“We probably had a little bit of luck like Charles [Leclerc] crossed the line after the checkered flag, making us gain a place.”
“The positive thing is that we performed well and are well placed for the Sprint. We still have work to do and things to understand, but it’s nice to be going in the right direction.”
On the other side of the garage, Pierre Gasly believes that he could have done even better in the last phase of qualifying.
« Sprint Qualifying was positive, with the team’s two cars in SQ3. We managed SQ1 and SQ2 well, showing good speed to reach the following sessions. » said the Norman.
“On the other hand, we clearly did not maximize the SQ3. It was complicated and I couldn’t really do an attack lap. These are things that we will analyze as we want to optimize and get the most out of each session. »
“Despite that, we still had a good pace today, which is nice, and we are in the top ten again. The cars in front of us are fast and only the top eight will score points tomorrow in the Sprint. It won’t be easy to take some, but we will give it our all and see what we can get.”
This Saturday during the Sprint race of the Austrian Grand Prix, only the top eight will score championship points.
