Alpine satisfied with Q2 at Monza
The two French cars reached Q2. A milestone that didn't seem possible at the start of the weekend. Despite this positive note, finishing in the points looks very difficult.
A small resurgence for Alpine. The French team was having a very difficult start to the weekend. Very far down the hierarchy, the two French cars turned things around in qualifying. Both of them managed to reach Q2. A performance that seemed hardly achievable on Friday.
Despite an almost completely flat wing, the Alpines did not manage to take advantage of this on the straight. In corners, it wasn’t really there either. Some modifications were then made between the first two days of testing. They apparently provided better sensations.
« There are some positive points to remember, we made some changes during the night that seem to have done the trick. The car was better and closer to our performance before Zandvoort. We haven’t quite understood why, so we need to delve into the matter », says Esteban Ocon.
No sensation with soft tires
The Monza weekend was looking tough for us, but I think the team’s hard work paid off and we took a step in the right direction. Although we didn’t put together a completely clean lap, we left some performance on the table and might have been able to gain a few more positions.
On his side, Pierre Gasly had more trouble getting the soft tires to work. This did not prevent him from finishing one place ahead of his teammate in qualifying (14th). “Every time we put on the soft tires this week, we failed to make them work as we wanted. The grip of the car as a whole was not satisfactory. The best lap was done with worn tires in Q1,” he says.
Goal: the points
The Norman hopes to move up in the hierarchy and finish in the points zone. This would offer Alpine a not insignificant sum for the end of the championship. The biggest danger will be the first turn. In F3 and F2, many incidents occurred in this first chicane. An advantage for the Blues, the soft tires should not be used. Alpine should therefore be more comfortable. At Spa, the two cars with the arrow A were effective. Monza has similar characteristics to the Belgian track. Hope is therefore required.
The new surface and the various unknowns about it could benefit Alpine. It will be interesting to see what happens as the teams do not have much representative data on long runs yet and with the new tarmac, there will be some unknowns. We will see how the day unfolds and make sure we position ourselves to fight and hopefully gain some places, announces Esteban Ocon.
