An Alpine on the second row this Sunday at the start of the Belgian GP
This Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps, Alpine finished qualifying fifth and sixth thanks to Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso respectively, as well as a great team performance.
The two drivers were able to reap the fruits of a very good collective effort to sign a result which was identical to that of the last race, in Hungary, where Esteban Ocon also qualified in fifth position and Fernando Alonso in sixth. This Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps, each time one of the two men was on a flying lap, he was able to take advantage of the suction created by his teammate’s single-seater in the first sector.
In Q3, Esteban Ocon completed a lap in 1m45.180s after Fernando Alonso gave him his slipstream, before the Frenchman returned the favor to allow him to set a 1m.45.368s. This Sunday, at the start of the 44 laps that make up the race, Fernando Alonso will start from third position following the penalties revealed for changing the engine to certain drivers including Esteban Ocon, who will start seventeenth.
“Esteban fifth, Fernando sixth and – above all – ahead of our rivals, we can only be happy with our performance today in qualifying. declared this Saturday evening Alan Permane, the sporting director of Alpine.
“What I like the most is the teamwork put in by everyone today, including our two drivers, who did a great job putting our plan into action. Esteban has to deal with a tolerance for a powertrain change tomorrow, which means it will start at the back of the grid.
“But as others are in the same situation, Fernando will start third and will have an excellent chance to sign a good result. There are faster cars behind us – Max [Verstappen] and Charles [Leclerc] – but we remain focused on our race and vigilant to beat the competitors we are actually competing against on the track. We will do everything we can to maximize our points collection in tomorrow’s race. This is our objective and I am convinced that scoring points with our two cars is possible.
Third on the starting grid, Fernando Alonso sees this as another great opportunity to get some big points this Sunday in the race and the Spaniard is just hoping for a clean race: “Tomorrow, it’s coming and, like in Canada, I have a new opportunity to start in the top three. declared the double world champion.
“Tomorrow, I hope for a clear race to be able to capitalize on this position. We will be wary of those who follow us because several fast cars will start from the back of the grid. We are aiming for a place in the top five or six under the checkered flag.
On the other side of the garage, Esteban Ocon will have a lot to do in the race to try to move up the hierarchy by starting from a distant seventeenth position on the starting grid this Sunday at Spa: “This fifth place is my best result this season in qualifying, so it’s a bit of a shame to have to deal with this penalty on the grid tomorrow, but we have the package to get a good result. said the Alpine driver.
“Fernando will start from third place, and I will give everything to move up the hierarchy and bring some merit points to the team. I can’t wait to get back on track and give the Belgian fans a good Grand Prix because they will know it.
Belgian GP starting grid
Pilot | Crew |
---|---|
1 – Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
2 – Sergio Perez | Red Bull |
3-Fernando Alonso | Alpine |
4-Lewis Hamilton | mercedes |
5 – George Russel | mercedes |
6- Alex Albon | williams |
7-Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren |
8 – Pierre Gasly | Alpha Tauri |
9 – Walk of spears | Aston Martin |
10 – Sebastien Vettel | Aston Martin |
11 – Nicholas Latifi | williams |
12 – Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
13 – Yuki Tsunoda | Alpha Tauri |
14 – Valtteri Bottas (P) | Alfa Romeo |
15 – Max Verstappen (P) | Red Bull |
16 – Charles Leclerc (P) | Ferrari |
17 – Esteban Ocon (P) | Alpine |
18 – Lando Norris (P) | McLaren |
19 – Guanyu Zhou (S) | Alfa Romeo |
20 – Mick Schumacher (P) | Haas |