In a tale of mixed fortunes for Alpine F1, Doohan faced challenges while Ocon managed to limit the damage on a capricious weather day.
Esteban Ocon did not lose much time missing EL1, as Alpine F1 had handed his car over to Jack Doohan. The French driver feels for his substitute of the day but is pleased to have been able to learn, especially about the new asphalt.
“It was a good day, even though Jack only had very limited running in EL1 due to the weather conditions. It was a pity for him,” Ocon regrets. “In the afternoon, we drove on both wet and dry. We managed to catch up on what we couldn’t do in the morning to gather information.”
“The track is much better with this new surface. It’s far more enjoyable, so kudos to the circuit officials. Tomorrow, we hope to really test the grip of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and have good qualifying.”
Pierre Gasly hopes for strong performances throughout the weekend but admits that the weather will be a surprise and a disruptive element: “Overall, the car behaved well today, but we didn’t run much in these conditions marked by heavy rain. All teams are in the same boat, so there are still many questions for all the teams, particularly about the new asphalt. We’ll see what the future holds.”
“It would obviously be nice to pick up where we left off in Monaco, but we are aware that it was an atypical track and we know where we stand with our car and its current performance. Hopefully, the weather will reshuffle the deck this weekend by creating opportunities. We will work hard to be ready to seize any opportunity that arises.”
Jack Doohan was unlucky, as the weather was very capricious and he was not able to run, except to check the functioning of the car and conduct a start test: “These EL1 were not the most exciting from my side, with limited running due to weather conditions.”
“The forecasts also look uncertain for the rest of the weekend, so it was important to preserve and keep sets of tires in case the rain persisted. We managed to do an installation lap on wet tires to ensure the car was functioning well.”
“When the track dried out towards the end, we finished with an out lap on soft tires before testing starts. We still managed to collect some useful data. The weather is out of our control, but we ultimately made the most of what we could given the conditions.”
Alpine F1’s Mixed Fortunes: Ocon Steadies Ship. Alpine F1’s Mixed Fortunes: Ocon Steadies Ship
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