Alpine secures fifth position after double points finish in titanic finale

Esteban and Fernando started well and heldposition during the opening laps of the 58-lap Grand Prix. As things got tenseup front for the title protagonists, Esteban and Fernando held firm in ninthand eleventh after the formation of a DRS train.

Having started on Softs, Esteban was thefirst to pit and he switched to the Hard compounds on lap 16. Fernando, whostarted on the Hards, kept on touring the Yas Marina Circuit until lap 36 whena Virtual Safety Car was called and he took this window to box for Mediums.

The Spaniard exited the pits in eighthwith Esteban tenth having stopped much earlier. After some attacking anddefensive battles with the Alpha Tauris and McLarens, Fernando found himself inninth and Esteban was just behind in tenth. The pair then moved up once placeeach after Sergio Perez retired his car.

A late Safety Car threw everything intodisarray, with a one-lap sprint to the finish set to decide the final standingsin the World Championship. Under the Abu Dhabi fireworks, Fernando and Estebancrossed the line in eighth and ninth at the chequered flag, to eventually sealfifth position in the constructors’ standings.

Esteban Ocon, started P9, finished P9:

“Congratulations to Max [Verstappen] forwinning the championship. It’s well deserved as this year he’s been great andhopefully one day we’ll be up there battling with him in the future: that’s ouraim looking forward. In terms of today, I’d say it was a good race for us. Wedid well on the strategy we had going from Softs to Hards on a one-stop. Wedidn’t benefit from the virtual safety car and we lost two places thereunfortunately. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t, that’s the wayit is! I’m very happy to end the season on a strong note and that’s a positive.Thanks to everyone at Alpine F1 Team at Enstone and Viry for their hard workall season. Let’s keep pushing!”

Fernando Alonso, started P11, finished P8:

“It was a fun race out there tonight andto see the championship fight go down to the last lap was exciting. For ourrace, we started on the Hard tyres and we did well to benefit from the SafetyCar this time. I enjoyed the fights we had with the Alpha Tauris and to scoredouble points for the team is a good result for Alpine. We weren’t quite ascompetitive this weekend, but we executed another strong race, so it’s a creditto the team. We now need to reset for next year and make sure we have a goodwinter ahead of 2022. I would also like to say Congratulations to MaxVerstappen for winning the title. It was only a matter of time that he won thetrophy and whilst there was some fortune in the incidents today, I think he isa deserving champion.”

Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO: “Firstly, congratulations to MaxVerstappen, Red Bull Racing, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for a fantastic finaleto the season. It was a brilliant end to a captivating year in Formula 1 andthe perfect advert for what an entertaining sport we have the privilege tocompete in. The drama they created today only makes us hungrier to be up at thetop of the grid fighting for wins and championships in the near future. That isour ultimate goal and we will not stop the hard work to achieve that. Our racetoday was a fitting end to what has been a very memorable campaign. BothFernando and Esteban battled hard and dug deep to score double points. Creditto them, to the strategists, to the pit-stop crew and to everyone at Enstoneand Viry who has contributed to this success and consolidating fifth in thechampionship. I hope everyone in the team enjoys a good break over Christmaswhile we keep an eye on seizing future opportunities, especially from next yearwith the rule changes. Thanks to everyone on both sides of the Channel for agreat season, capped with memorable races including Fernando’s podium andEsteban’s victory. We want to create more memories and moments like this andwe’ll remain motivated yet humble in achieving our targets.”