Pressiteade
The result means Fernando stretches hispoints-scoring streak to five races with Esteban returning to the points forthe first time since Monaco.
Despite finishing in their starting positions, itwas far from plain sailing to the chequered flag.
Off the line, Esteban enjoyed the stronger startand was unfortunate to be caught in a tight gap between Fernando and SebastianVettel. Both drivers were able to escape without major damage with Fernandoholding seventh and Esteban tenth at the end of lap one.
The race was red flagged after an incident betweenMax Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at Copse, with barrier repairs bringing a30-minute delay to the race.
At the second standing start, Fernando gained aposition to sixth with Esteban maintaining tenth. Esteban then progressed toninth on lap five after passing Kimi Raikkonen with Fernando dropping a placeto Carlos Sainz.
Esteban pitted for new Hards on lap 19, with aslow-stop for Fernando for Hards on lap 24 momentarily costing him a place toLance Stroll, which he soon recovered with a dive into Brooklands.
Esteban dipped outside the points after PierreGasly’s overtake on lap 29, but with Sergio Perez pitting on lap 38 and Gaslyon lap 48 for a puncture, Esteban was able to progress his way to ninth, whichhe held at the chequered flag. Fernando comfortably held Stroll at bay forseventh place.
Thanks to the double points finish Alpine F1 Teamregains some ground in the Constructors’ Championship compared to its rivalsand now heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix hoping to make further in-roads.
Esteban Ocon, started P9, finished P9:
“It was not an easy race today with everythinggoing on; the red flag, two standing starts, but we’re back in the points andthat feels good. It was nice to be fighting and getting the maximum from thecar. Tyre management was challenging today but we did everything well. Ofcourse, you always want more, but as a team, we have both cars in the pointstoday and that’s a great reward for everyone’s hard work. We’re back on thepace after three difficult races and we aim to keep this going now through toHungary. We’ll be preparing and working hard for that, to make sure we backthis result up. I’m glad Max is OK after the incident, and I wish him a speedyrecovery.”
Fernando Alonso, started P7, finished P7:
“It was a good result today and I am happy to scoremore points for the team. It was a very long, hot race so it was verychallenging. I thought we managed the temperatures and the tyres in a good way,and we also kept enough of a gap to Lance (Stroll) behind. We made some goodcalls on strategy and executed everything well. It was a little bit of adifferent weekend and we’ll have to see if the fans enjoyed it. We now have twoweeks until we go again.”
Marcin Budkowski, Executive Director:
“Overall, it’s been a positive weekend for us; agreat Sprint, double points and nice to see Esteban back to form. The racedidn’t start the best way with Fernando having an off on his way to the gridand damaging his diffuser. We made all the repairs we could on the grid but hadto start the race with a slightly damaged car and a performance deficit. Bothdrivers lost some positions at the start, but it went a lot better on therestart after the red flag. From that point on, it was a very well-managed racefrom a strategy and pace point of view. Fernando actually managed the pace in avery strategic way by creating a DRS train to protect his position. It was awhile since we placed both cars in the points and it allowed us to outscore ournearest competitors in the Constructors’ Championship. We also send our bestwishes to Max and hope he is OK.”
