Alpine's Rain Gamble Secures Double Podium in São Paulo

Alpine stuns with double podium in Brazil, but Steiner remains skeptical about drivers’ unity despite their celebratory gestures.

The 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix will be remembered as a landmark weekend for the Alpine team.

Beginning the event in a modest ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship, the French team stunned the paddock with an impressive double podium finish.

Thanks to this outstanding performance, Alpine now sits sixth in the team standings—an achievement that former Haas team principal Günther Steiner has not hesitated to praise.

Still, Steiner remains sceptical about the renewed camaraderie between Alpine’s drivers, despite their celebratory gestures following the Brazilian race.

Esteban Ocon claimed a brilliant second place after momentarily leading the race upon restart, before being overtaken by the eventual winner, Max Verstappen.

Opting not to pit for intermediate tyres when the mid-race downpour intensified, Ocon’s gamble proved worthwhile. A red flag later halted the race, affording Ocon a free tyre change—a stroke of fortune Steiner also noted.

“They took the same gamble as Verstappen by staying out, and it paid off perfectly for them,” he commented.

Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, climbed to the third spot on the podium, a remarkable feat after starting from thirteenth due to a red flag disrupting his qualifying session.

Like Ocon and Verstappen, Gasly adopted the same daring strategy, underlining the vital role that strategic choices played in this double podium finish. Yet, Steiner believes the Alpine drivers’ exceptional performances were just as instrumental.

“Yes, the strategy was spot on, but the drivers were truly exceptional. Sometimes, a car simply performs better in the rain, and they seized their chance. Keeping the car on track in those conditions takes real skill.”

After this race, Ocon and Gasly appeared to have set their past tensions aside, though they have clashed in the past.

During an appearance on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner was asked if the Brazilian race had rekindled a friendship between the two drivers; Steiner responded with a laugh, “For how long?” He added that managing the car in wet conditions is a unique challenge, quite unlike racing on a dry track.

“Sometimes in life, everything just clicks, and things go better,” Steiner continued.

“When it rains, you drive with maximum downforce. Some cars are quicker on the straights, and those teams choose to maintain that speed for overtaking. In these conditions, the driver has to be in complete control. If he can manage that, then it’s almost like racing on a dry track; he’s simply quicker on the straights.” Steiner concluded by noting that race officials adjust the rules to make wet conditions safer.

The Brazilian weekend, then, stands as a highlight of Alpine’s season, where the team maximised every opportunity to secure their place on the podium.