Alpine delighted after both cars got into Q2 in Imola
Formula One's French outfit Alpine was delighted with the result of the qualifying session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as both cars managed to get into Q2.
Esteban Ocon sounded a positive note after climbing out of his car. The Frenchman conceded that his team was struggling on Friday to find the right balance for their upgraded car, but Alpine managed to calm the car down for the all-important qualifying session.
As a result, Ocon made it through into Q2 to qualifying himself 12th on the grid. Despite the improved pace, he still missed three tenths of a second to the last qualifying segment.
"From where we started the weekend with the overall balance and feel of the car, we have made good progress as a team to improve things and put ourselves in the mix for the Grand Prix tomorrow.
"It has been a tricky weekend and difficult to put a lap together, but we optimised all three Practice sessions and kept the team busy with various changes on set-up. We worked well to improve the car balance and behaviour of the car each session, which is credit to the team. The field was very close - closer than usual on this short circuit - but the lap in the end was not enough to make it into Q3.
"We need to understand why we cannot make the same jump in performance from Q1 to Q2 that the other teams do, which is something we will continue to evaluate further," Ocon concluded.
This place. What a track 🥰 pic.twitter.com/GuhJeu1wvc
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 18, 2024
His team-mate Pierre Gasly also got himself out of Q1, but he was unable to put a good lap together in the middle part of qualifying which saw him take only 15th for tomorrow's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“We had a good start to Qualifying, finishing Q1 comfortably inside the top ten, so it is a pity not to be able to consolidate that through the remainder of the session. In Q2, I had a fairly strong lap through the first two sectors, up until the final couple of corners where I met some traffic. It distracted my line into the corner more than anything, which potentially cost me some lap time and positions.
"There is obviously some frustration not to put it together in Q2 especially as, like in Miami, we were so close to reaching Q3. The car has felt good all weekend so far and we will push hard to put in a strong performance tomorrow. This is a difficult track for overtaking and we will make sure we are prepared for different scenarios and put ourselves in the mix for points," said Gasly.
