Miami NICE as BWT Alpine F1 Team recover to score deserved points

Fernandoenjoyed a strong start off the line and was able to propel himself into thepoints places as he held eighth place in the early running. After pitting onlap 15 for Hards, the Spaniard was on course for the top ten before a Turn 1collision with Pierre Gasly resulted in his time penalty. Fernando was able toextend the gap in the closing stages to cross the line in eighth with the timepenalty demoting him one position. He was then handed a further post-race fivesecond penalty for another infringement, which dropped him out of the points.

Estebanmeanwhile drove a long and patient opening stint on Hards in the hope of a lateSafety Car. And with the late collision between Gasly and Lando Norris on lap40, Esteban was able to benefit from the Safety Car period to pit for freshtyres without impacting track position. The Frenchman again had to showpatience in the closing stages and with Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettelcolliding late on, Esteban jumped to ninth at the chequered flag and eighth withFernando’s time penalty, rounding off a fantastic effort to progress twelvepositions.

Esteban Ocon, started P20, finished P8:

“What a race! A big thank you to the team for all the hard workovernight putting back together what was a pretty broken car after that bigshunt in practice on Saturday. They are the real stars this weekend. For me, itfeels great to come away with points after starting from the back of the gridand I’m definitely leaving happy after such a tough day yesterday. The car andthe strategy were great, it was a well-managed race and we’re capping off anexhilarating first race weekend in Miami in style. Now we need to keep thatmomentum as we head back to Europe for the next round.”

Fernando Alonso, started P11, finishedP11:

“In the race I made some good moves at the start and gained somepositions. We were a bit unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car and someothers were quite fortunate. We were probably in the fight for seventh oreighth without it. I then made a mistake when I tried to overtake Pierre[Gasly], which was my fault and I apologise. Overall, I think our race paceseemed to be good. It was also very hot and humid, so it was quite challengingphysically for us.”

LaurentRossi, CEO Alpine: “We’re satisfied withtoday’s race as it’s been a decent recovery effort to save our weekend. We comeaway from Miami by returning to the points with both cars, which was importantafter tasting disappointment in Imola. Credit to Esteban for driving a strongrace to go from the back of the grid to eighth place. This would have not beenpossible without his car crew’s exceptional work in preparing a new chassisafter yesterday’s incident. To score points is a just reward for everyone’sefforts. Fernando too drove a solid race, especially at the start to movehimself into points scoring contention. Miami has proved to be an excellentevent both on track and off it, so congratulations to everyone at the team fortheir hard work this weekend. We must build on our points haul and we now lookforward to Barcelona where we return to more familiar grounds. We’re hungry torestart a points-scoring streak over the next string of races.”