Pressiteade
Alpine F1 Team secured its first win in Formula 1at the Hungaroring thanks to a stunning drive by Esteban Ocon to grab hismaiden victory in the sport. Fernando Alonso finished in fourth after somevaliant battles of his own meaning the team heads into the summer break infifth position in the Constructors’ Championship.
In damp weather conditions, Esteban and Fernandogot off the line well and managed to avoid several first corner incidents. Withtheir mirrors full, the Frenchman exited Turn 1 in second place with Fernandojust behind in seventh. A red flag brought proceedings to a short delay toallow the resulting debris to be cleared. During the 15-minute break in action,the track began to dry leaving drivers and teams with an agonising choice on whetherto fit the slicks at the end of the Formation Lap. In the end, only one car(Lewis Hamilton) lined-up on the grid with Intermediate tyres, with Esteban andFernando opting to switch to the dry compounds along with the rest of thefield.
Both cars avoided any contact at the restart andEsteban assumed the lead of the race once Hamilton conceded and pitted for drytyres. He settled into an early rhythm with the Aston Martin of SebastianVettel keeping him in close company.
Vettel was brought into the pits one lap earlierthan Esteban, but a smooth pitstop by the team meant he held position and couldavoid an undercut.
Whilst his team-mate was in the lead, Fernando wasfighting inside the podium places, battling with Carlos Sainz and a latecharging Hamilton. With fresher rubber, Lewis shared a thrilling battle forfourth place with Fernando, whose actions protected Esteban’s lead from theseven times World Champion. The Spaniard was eventually forced to cede theplace to the Mercedes at Turn 2.
Despite constant pressure from the German driverbehind, Esteban delivered a measured and error free drive to hold onto the leadand take the chequered flag. The result means Esteban becomes the first driverto win in a French car with a French engine since Alain Prost's victory forRenault in Austria 1983. It is also the first victory for the Alpine brand,just six months after it made its F1 debut.
Histeam-mate stayed in fifth place, which later became fourth post race, andscored his best result of his Formula 1 comeback with the pair scoring Alpine’sbest result in the sport to date.
Laurent Rossi, ChiefExecutive Officer, Alpine:
I am incredibly proud and delighted with thisresult; for Esteban, for Alpine, for Renault Group, for Fernando and for theteams across the UK and France that have worked tirelessly to deliver the firstvictory for Alpine. Everyone has shown great resilience, dedication and passionto get this result – it was great teamwork all round, especially for Fernandoand his incredible fighting spirit. We are humbled by standing on the podiumamongst the giants of this amazingly competitive sport. It has been an incredibleweek; we started with the opening of our Alpine dealership in Hungary, markedFernando’s birthday and now we finish with a double French victory! We cancelebrate this now and use as inspiration for further success as we carry onthe Alpine journey well into the future.
Esteban Ocon
Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, it’s unbelievable andit definitely has not sunk in yet. What a moment, allez les bleus! It was acrazy race from the very start to the end. There were a lot of decisions tomake and the team executed that really well along with the crew who did a megapit-stop, which was crucial to staying in front of Sebastian [Vettel]. I washappy to manage the pace as best as possible at the front and it all worked outwell today. What a fight from Fernando too, his amazing teamwork at the endplayed a huge part in the win and it was great to share the moment with him. Ican’t be thankful enough for the team’s work and support and it’s all paid offtoday. A big thanks as well to everyone at Enstone and Viry – this is for you!
Fernando Alonso
It was a very long race, very tough, and we werefighting all the way through. The start was key – I was a bit unlucky and lostsome positions, but some were even unluckier than me. It compromised our race alittle, however, top five is the best result of the year for me so far, butwinning the race for the team is the best result ever. Now we have quite somehistory on this track! My first victory came here with Renault in 2003, nowEsteban has won as Alpine in 2021. I am so happy for him and for the guys.Sometimes we have been unlucky but today was one of the lucky days and we haveto maximise these opportunities. We can execute races close to perfection ifluck is with us. We’ve been up and down, but we can now look forward to thefuture and repeat the success of the past. These boosts motivate us, and we cango into the break with a smile on our faces.
Marcin Budkowski, Executive Director, Alpine F1Team
What an incredible result, the first win forEsteban and for Alpine F1 Team. Esteban was unbelievable today, hugecongratulations to him for his first Grand Prix victory. It was a stressfulrace and it felt incredibly long. We put ourselves in a great position at thestart, made the right calls during the race, the pit crew executed two perfectpit-stops and then it was about holding all the way to the end. We knew Lewis[Hamilton] would be a threat in the last laps, but we must pay huge credit toFernando for fighting hard to defend against him, as this helped a lot toprotect Esteban's position. We’ve seen crazy races in the past and it’s aboutbeing there to capitalise on any opportunity and today we did just that. I’m soproud of this Team today, not only here at the track but also at Enstone andViry, this is the reward for their hard work over the last few years. Let’ssavour this win, it will give us the appetite for many more.
