Pressiteade
Howdoes the team reflect on last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix?
Itwas a mixed weekend for us. Fernando had a good weekend, especially onSaturday, however, his race was affected by traffic and it was difficult tomake progress. Esteban missed out on Q2 by less than a tenth, and that made itvery difficult for him to reach the points in the race. The lap-timedifferences are very small in Austria and we’re aiming to find improvementsfrom last weekend to get both cars into the points.
Withthe tyre compounds a step softer, how will that change the weekend?
Wehave the C5 compound this week, which we’ve never had in Austria before, sothat brings a bit of an unknown. At a normal race weekend, the Friday plan isfairly standard and the information you need to gather doesn’t vary much. Thatis different this weekend as we already have information on the C3 and C4 andnow we need to look at the C5. It will have more grip than the C4 and probablyhigher degradation as well. We’ll need to learn how high the degradation is andwhether that pushes you towards a two-stop race strategy.
Whatdoes this weekend’s rear tyre construction test entail?
Thisweekend we have the option to test the new construction of rear tyre brought byPirelli. It’s going to be more of a compromise than in the past with theshorter practice sessions, but we will have a look at them as we expect to beracing with them at the next race in Silverstone. It’s not compulsory but itwill certainly be useful to run them. Both drivers have two sets and we’ll seewhere we work that into our run plan without compromising this race weekend toomuch.
What is Guanyu Zhou’s programme for hisfirst Free Practice 1?
We’re very pleased to have our TestDriver Zhou driving on Friday for his first FP1 in Formula 1. He’s leading theFormula 2 Championship this year, so he’s full of confidence and ready to helpthe team out this weekend. As a member of the Alpine Academy, he’s driven the2018 car quite a lot, so he’s familiar with our systems and way of operating.He should fit right in and be up to speed quickly. We’re aiming for aproductive session with him with some set-up work to assess and some ideas wehave to help us improve on last weekend.
Diggingdeep
Itwas a far from straightforward weekend for Esteban Ocon in the first of tworaces in Austria. The Frenchman is determined for a better result this weekendas Formula 1 gears up for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Whatare your post-Styria thoughts?
It’salways disappointing when you don’t score points and certainly frustrating notto be competitive. The team and I are working hard to find solutions, and, thisweekend brings us an immediate opportunity to try some things and see how wecan return to the performance level we had earlier in the season. It was not aneasy one to take on both Saturday and Sunday for different reasons and when youqualify so far down the order it makes the race more difficult.
Howare you aiming to turn it around this weekend at the same circuit?
There’sno better opportunity than to comeback straight away at a back to back race. Wehave some ideas to explore and things to test to see what we can do to improvethe performance. I’m feeling motivated and determined to get back into the topten this weekend, and I’m looking forward to it.
Whathave you been doing on the days off in between?
I’verelaxed for a couple of days near the circuit where I’m staying. Austria is agreat location to unwind, so that’s been quite enjoyable. I’ve mixed a littlebit of training with some fun activities like mountain biking, which has beengreat. It’s the last race of the triple header and I want to cap off thissegment of the season with a strong result.
Backto back
FernandoAlonso will look to continue his points scoring form this weekend as the teamis set for a second race around the Spielberg circuit for the Austrian GrandPrix.
Lastweekend you finished ninth, what are your thoughts heading into a second racein Austria?
Ithink we achieved the maximum from the weekend. It’s a fun circuit to race onand because it’s such a short lap there are very small margins between most ofthe field. This made the race very tight and we might have taken one moreposition had it not been for some blue flags. We have a lot of data to analyseand we don’t have to wait long to go racing again. I’ll be missing FP1 thisweekend but it will be nice to see Guanyu Zhou in the car for the session andit’ll be a great experience for him.
Didyou do much in your time off between the two races?
It’sthe third race of our first triple header this season so I made sure to takesome time to recharge the batteries ahead of this weekend. It’s my first timeexperiencing back to back races at the same venue in Formula 1. But I amlooking forward to getting back to the track for another race here and to keepthe momentum going.
Whatmakes this circuit so unpredictable?
Aswe saw last weekend qualifying and traffic management can be difficult with itbeing such a short lap. Tyre management is also key here and the compounds area step softer this weekend which presents a new challenge. The weather is alsovery unpredictable, where one minute it’s clear blue skies with hightemperatures, and the next it’s pouring down with rain and possiblethunderstorms. We enjoy these challenges as drivers and I think this makesracing here twice in a row quite interesting as you try to adjust and perfectyour weekend.
AlpineAcademy
Martinsand Collet back in action as Formula 3 heads to the hills
AlpineAcademy Drivers Victor Martins and Caio Collet return to racing this weekend asthe FIA Formula 3 Championship enters round three in Austria.
Victoris second in the championship after his double podium visit last time out inFrance, which saw him collect 36 points. Caio was also on the podium in Franceafter finishing third in the main race and he remains seventh in thechampionship on 35 points.
TheMP Motorsport team-mates are ready to take on Austria’s Spielberg this weekend.Victor claimed his first victory in Formula Renault at the circuit in 2018, asCaio gets set for his first taste of racing at the picturesque track.
VictorMartins: “I’mreally happy to be back racing again in Spielberg this weekend. I aim to keepriding this wave of momentum after the great weekend we had in France. Wetested in Spielberg earlier this year and our pace was competitive, so I’mconfident that we can confirm our form there. It’s a circuit that I enjoyracing at as it has some fun high-speed corners and long straights, meaningthere will be plenty of opportunities to overtake. I’m excited about theweekend and we are ready to push and enjoy it.”
CaioCollet: “I’mreally looking forward to this weekend. After Paul Ricard, we made a step up interms of one-lap pace compared to Barcelona. That was one of the positives fromthe weekend. On Saturday we were unlucky, it wasn’t our day, but on Sunday webounced back with the podium and a good race. I’m ready for Spielberg thisweekend. I’m aiming to have a complete weekend across all three days and takesome decent results. The team and I are working hard to do it and we’reimproving step by step. We have everything set to have a good weekend.”
GuanyuZhou to debut in Austrian Grand Prix
Zhou, currently Test Driverfor the team and Alpine Academy member since 2019, will be handed his F1weekend debut for the first practice session of the event, taking FernandoAlonso’s A521 for the duration of the one-hour practice.
Guanyu Zhou:“Driving in FP1 at a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend is like a dream comingtrue and another step closer to my ultimate goal of becoming a Formula 1driver. It’s going to be a very special moment. I’m preparing myself as much asI can to be ready and also ensure that I’m able to complete all the targets andplans that the team have set me to do. There have not been many Chinese driversin Formula 1, so to be behind the wheel of an F1 car during a race weekend isgoing to be a very proud feeling. It’s going to be even more special that I’mdriving Fernando’s car as he inspired me to pursue a career in racing when Iwas young. I’m very happy with my achievements so far and I’m very thankful forthe support I have from those around me. My aim is to maximise this opportunityand I’m really looking forward to it.”
Tyres:
Hard,C3 (White)
Esteban – 2
Fernando - 2
Medium,C4 (Yellow)
Esteban – 3
Fernando - 3
Soft,C5 (Red)
Esteban– 8
Fernando– 8
