Catastrophe Strikes Alpine F1 at Hungarian GP

Alpine F1 faced a debacle in Hungary, marred by a dismal race and disastrous qualifying efforts.

After a thoroughly unsuccessful Saturday during Q1, it was a disastrous Sunday for Alpine F1 at the Hungaroring, marked by yet another retirement for Pierre Gasly.

Esteban Ocon was the only one of the two to finish, but in a distant 18th place.

“It was a disappointing day and weekend overall. Aside from the start and the initial laps, where we gained four positions, there isn’t much to remark upon regarding the race. We need to take time for analysis, but in hindsight, we probably stopped too early in an attempt at an undercut when we should have extended our first stint. We then had to pit just before the finish as the tyres had lost all grip. There are many areas we need to examine and improve upon after this weekend, in terms of operations, performance, and reliability. We must reset before next week at Spa to try and end on a high note before the summer break.”

Pierre Gasly once again fell victim to the reliability issues of his A524.

“It was a frustrating weekend. I started from the pit lane after adding a new battery to my power unit component pool. Our initial pace seemed promising, and we extended the first stint to gain positions. Our strategy looked like it was paying off, so there’s a sense of having missed a real opportunity by having to retire mid-race due to a hydraulic leak. It’s a tough end to yet another challenging weekend for us. We simply have to be better. We need to analyse our issues and understand why they occur. Let’s keep moving forward while working to fix these problems. We must ensure not to repeat these errors and come back stronger next weekend in Belgium.”

Bruno Famin reflects on the damage, having already issued apologies following yesterday’s qualifying.

“After the compromised qualifying session yesterday, we strategically opted to introduce a new battery into Pierre’s power unit pool, hence his start from the pit lane. Pierre did well in his first stint to be with the cars that eventually finished close to the points. We suffered a hydraulic leak, and we absolutely must eliminate these recurring issues. On Esteban’s side, we were in line with the first drivers to pit, but track position is crucial at this circuit and we couldn’t manage the tyres as planned. We have an immediate chance to do much better next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, where we must aim for a positive result before the summer break.”