Alpine scores double points in Baku as Fernando finishes seventh and Esteban tenth

After a routine opening lap around the Baku City circuit, both driversheld their starting positions of tenth and thirteenth. The race truly startedto unravel around lap 9 when a Virtual Safety Car was called. Fernando remainedout on his Medium tyres and gradually moved up the order after others chose tostop under the Virtual Safety Car. He eventually pitted under normal racingconditions on lap 18 and switched to Hards.

Esteban also remained out on his starting tyres (Hards) and foundhimself inside the top ten after the Virtual Safety Car. On the fresher rubber,Fernando began to carve his way through the midfield and overtooka number of cars in part thanks to his rapidsector 3 times.

As his teammate climbed the order, Esteban was also kept busy as he defendedagainst a number of cars whilst on the older tyres. He was eventually called infor his mandatory pitstop on lap 33, capitalising on another Virtual Safety Carwhich enabled him to return in eleventh position.

As normal racing conditions resumed, Fernando found himself seventh andEsteban was tenth.

For the remainder of the 51-lap race both drivers continued to utilisethe cars strong sector 3 pace and battled hard inside the top ten. BothMcLarens tried their best to catch and overtake Fernando, but his stalwartdefence ensured he crossed the line in seventh for the second consecutive race.Esteban meanwhile collected the final point in tenth, ensuring his sixth topten finish of the season.

Esteban Ocon, started P13finished P10: "Itwas a very challenging race today, so to come away with a double points finishand another top ten is a positive. Like always, we’ll debrief as a team to seewhat areas we can improve for next time. We were quick on both Friday andSaturday – we can count ourselves slightly unfortunate in qualifying which didnot help our track position today - so there is definitely more potential thereif we can piece it all together. We can leave Baku feeling positive and we’realready looking forward to returning to Canada next weekend where the aim is tokeep scoring points.”

Fernando Alonso, started P10,finished P7:

“The race was difficult toexecute today but we did well, and I am happy with seventh. We obviouslybenefited from a few retirements, but these things happen, and we were there tocapitalise on them and really maximise our strengths. I overtook a few cars onthe new tyres and we were very fast on the straights so that was useful. Ourpower-unit is looking strong and competitive, so this is always a good thing.We are very close with a number of cars at the moment, and I expect it to bequite similar in Canada. Let’s aim to score more points there!”

OtmarSzafnauer, Team Principal: “The aim today was to have both cars finish the race insidethe points and we’ve been able to achieve that. The characteristics of the BakuCity Circuit brings a unique challenge to both the drivers and the cars and wefelt if we could get both cars across the chequered flag we would be in thepoints. There was more potential in our package this weekend. Esteban wasunfortunate in qualifying, which put him slightly further back on the grid thanwe would have liked. That said, both drivers drove smart, well calculated racestoday when it counts for points and we can be pleased that both made up placesand into the top ten. We’ll debrief over the next couple of days and we lookforward to heading back to Montreal next weekend for the highly anticipatedreturn of the Canadian Grand Prix. We’ve moved into fifth in the Constructors’and we’re looking ahead to make further inroads on fourth place.”