Alpine F1's Optimistic Turn at Suzuka Signals Progress

Esteban Ocon’s hope for Alpine F1 post-Melbourne shines as Suzuka awaits. The team’s first seasonal upgrade stirs anticipation.

Esteban Ocon is optimistic that Alpine F1 is on the right track at Suzuka, following the team’s progress in Melbourne. The French driver made it into Q2 and could have contended for points if not for a tear-off stuck in a brake duct, necessitating an extra pit stop.

“I feel there was a lot of positive to take away from this weekend. It’s the first time I felt we maximized the car’s potential. It’s not enough, and we’re not where we want to be, but during the race, I was competing with the Haas cars, with Alex Albon, and they finished in the points,” notes Ocon.

“Had it not been for that tear-off, it’s uncertain where we would have ended up, but we could have been in the fight for points. And that wasn’t the case in the first two races, not by a long shot, so that’s the positive takeaway. This week, we start from scratch, under different conditions from last year, and I’m eager to drive on one of my favorite tracks.”

This weekend, Alpine introduces its first update to the A524, hoping it will be beneficial: “It’s the first time we’re bringing new developments to the car, but these are minor changes.”

“It won’t be revolutionary, but we’re reducing the car’s weight, which will improve performance, and there are a few other small things. We need to see what it brings and where it helps us, and where it doesn’t.”

“A Step in the Right Direction”

Pierre Gasly is also pleased to see his team introducing an upgrade, minor as it may be: “It’s good to have this first improvement on the car. It was already planned before the season started, so it somewhat follows the development plan we had in place.”

“We’re not expecting it to be major. We know it won’t, you know, take us to where we want to be, but it’s a step in the right direction, so we’re looking forward to seeing the outcome.”

For now, Gasly is not setting specific expectations: “I don’t want to set specific targets. We know it should be a slight performance improvement, which we obviously need given our current standing.”

“But, you know, we need more and will require more, but it’s definitely positive to see these first improvements on the car and that more should be coming in the following months.”