Pressiteade
Afterthe recent triple header, how much is the team looking forward to Sochi?
We’regoing to Sochi on the back of a busy European triple header across Belgium, TheNetherlands and Italy. We believe Sochi is a circuit that should allow us toreturn to a better level of competitiveness than Monza, which we knew wasn’t acircuit suited to our car’s characteristics. That said, we battled well in theSprint and the main Race in Italy to recover from a disappointing qualifyingsession and put both cars in the points. It means we’ve scored at the lastthirteen races and we know this level of consistency will be important in ourclose fight for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Howpleasing is it to see Esteban and Fernando scoring regularly?
Bothdrivers are managing to score points consistently. Fernando and Esteban are theclosest matched driver pairing on the grid this year, which demonstrates justhow strong our line-up is at the moment. They are working well together, andwe’re enjoying their ability to push each other and push the team forwards. Theracing is hard and fair, and we aim to keep scoring regular points with both ofthem.
Whatdoes Daniil Kvyat bring to the Team?
Heis our reserve driver and is always ready to step in if one of our main driverswas unable to race. He is very experienced and contributes to our developmentprogrammes both at the factory and at the track. No later than last week, wehave been testing the 18-inch prototype tyres with Pirelli in the wet inMagny-Cours with Daniil at the wheel of a modified RS18 car. We’re lookingforward to having him join us in Sochi this weekend, in his home country.
Whatare your thoughts on the Alpine Academy Drivers’ recent success?
Sochiwill also be a busy weekend for our Academy drivers with both Formula 2 andFormula 3 in action. In Formula 2, we had all three drivers on the podium atleast once in Monza. Oscar and Zhou are in a thrilling title fight with each otherand we’re looking forward to seeing how the next round will unfold. It’s thefinal race of the Formula 3 Championship with Victor and Caio amongst the toprookies in the series. Hopefully the two of them can record wins and podiumsand finish the season on a high note.
Belatedbirthday
EstebanOcon heads to Sochi having scored points on all three of his appearances inRussia. After celebrating his 25th birthday last week, the Frenchmanaims for points again on the edge of the Black Sea.
Howready are you to take on Sochi?
Ienjoyed the triple header and it was good for the team to score strong pointsat all three races. Monza was a challenging race for us as we weren’t ascompetitive there as we have been at other tracks this year. I think we can bemore competitive in Sochi. Last year, as a team, we finish fifth and seventh,and it would be great if we can repeat something similar this year. Thecompetition for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship is very close and it’llbe decided by very fine margins. If we can keep our form going, keep scoringwith both cars, then we know we’re going to be in with a shot by the end of theseason.
Whatis the circuit like to drive?
Sochiis quite a good track to race on. It’s got some interesting corner combinationsand a decent flow to it. Most of the circuit is medium speed and the mainchallenge comes towards the end of the lap when it’s slower speed and the reartyres tend to overheat. There areovertaking opportunities into Turn 2 after the long straight, and the aim is tobe in the mix to capitalise on any chances.
Howwill you approach the weekend?
AsI said, we were competitive there last year and we’re back to a moreconventional race weekend after the Sprint in Monza. There’s no reason why wecan’t be competitive again and we’ll target a productive Friday to make surewe’re prepared for the rest of the weekend. The atmosphere in Russia is alwaysgood to experience and I’m looking forward to seeing fans there this year. Ienjoyed my 25th birthday last week, so coming home with a bag fullof points will be the best belated gift!
Sochiexpress
Russiawelcomes Fernando Alonso back after a two-year absence from the Sochi Autodrom.Following his eighth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix, Fernando is hungryto continue his current form around the 5.848km Olympic park venue in Sochi.
InMonza you finished eighth adding some more points to the team’s tally. What areyour main takeaways from the weekend?
Monzawas a tough weekend for us where we didn’t have the pace that we’ve shown atother races earlier in the year. I think we maximised everything we could fromour weekend to score points and did well with the Sprint Qualifying format. IfI was a fan watching from home, then I would have enjoyed the format because itgives you two races during a weekend. I’m glad to score more points for the team,and had it not been for what happened in Belgium, then it could have been theninth race in a row inside the points.
You’reback in Sochi. What do you like about the track there?
I’veraced in Sochi five times before and it’ll be good to return there thisweekend. In the past I’ve not had a great Saturday there, but then in the raceI’ve made up quite a few positions. So, let’s see if we can put it all togetherthis year. In 2016 I had a very enjoyable race and we climbed eight positionsthat day. It’s a pretty fast circuit and the track is quite wide, so this helpswith closer racing. You need a car that is quick in the straights, so it’ll beinteresting to see how we shape up against everyone else.
Witheight races left on the calendar, what are your targets for the rest of theseason?
Ithink at this stage with the new regulations coming next year most teams, ifnot all, are already focusing on that. Our target is to consolidate ourposition in the Constructors’ Championship as we have stiff competition fromAlpha Tauri and Aston Martin. We need to keep scoring double points finisheslike we did in Italy and capitalise on any opportunities that arise. It’s beena long season already, but I am really enjoying being back racing. The cars aregreat to drive and the team atmosphere we are building is very positive. Wehave hopes for next season, but we need to enjoy the rest of this year and Iwill keep pushing to get the best out of myself and the car.
AlpineAcademy
Formula2 and Formula 3 bonanza in Sochi
Allfive Alpine Academy drivers are in action at Sochi, in a busy weekend ofmotorsport at the Olympic Park venue. FIA Formula 2 resumes its action after athrilling Italian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri still leading the way in theChampionship standings over his Academy teammate Guanyu Zhou.
Thetitle protagonists battled tooth and nail throughout the entire weekend inMonza, eventually occupying the top two finishing positions at the conclusionof the Feature Race. Meanwhile Christian Lundgaard produced a fine display inthe first race of the weekend, climbing sixteen positions during the race tofinish on the podium.
Meanwhile,Victor Martins and Caio Collet will finish their respective debut seasons inFIA Formula 3 this weekend, with Sochi the closing act to their 2021 season.Heading into the final round, the MP Motorsport duo are fourth and eighthrespectively in the Drivers’ Championship.
GuanyuZhou: “It’s a short gap between Monza and Sochiand it’s nice to go back to racing so soon. The circuit is quite long with amixture of medium and high-speed corners. You can’t afford to make any mistakesduring a lap. The track brings back lots of memories for me after I took myfirst win in Formula 2 there last year. I’m excited to be back and I will tryto keep the form going.”
OscarPiastri: “Sochi is up next and it’s going to be anew race for me. We’ll aim to keep our good form going after we had a goodweekend in Monza. There is no reason why we can’t keep up the performances inRussia. PREMA had a good weekend in Sochi last year, so hopefully we’re strongagain. I will be trying to extend the championship lead before we head to thefinal two rounds.”
ChristianLundgaard: “I’m looking forward to Sochi. Even thoughMonza was a difficult weekend, we learnt some important things from it. As adriver I became more aware of some more technical aspects of the car, and wetried a few different things, which were useful. Hopefully we can now apply ourlearnings in Sochi. It’s a track I know quite well as we raced there last year.We weren’t too bad then, so I’m excited to see if we can be competitive thisweekend.”
CaioCollet: “I’mlooking forward to racing there for the first time. It’ll be new for almosteveryone on the grid. The last six races I finished mostly inside the top five,so if we can get a podium, or a win, to end the year on a high, then it wouldbe nice. It’s a shame we don’t have the title to fight for going into the finalround, but I’ve learnt a lot from this year, and we’ll keep pushing to theend.”
VictorMartins: “It will be the first time this year we willbe racing on a non-conventional track. I always love this kind of experienceand feeling! I’m looking forward to using all of the experience that I havelearnt from the season so far to finish on a big high in Sochi. This is a bigchance for me to show I have learnt from my mistakes, and to display my fullpotential to get some strong results in qualifying and the races. I took myfirst win in Zandvoort, but I’m hungry for more.”
