One of the great positive surprises of the Spanish weekend is certainly Alpine, in the points for the third consecutive event after the top ten achieved in Monaco and Canada, but tracks that are totally different from that of Barcelona.
Going back in the season, in fact, at the beginning of the championship not only the weight problems of the A524 had emerged, due in part to chassis that were far too heavy and late in production, but also at an aerodynamic level, with a car that had large load deficiencies particularly at the rear. A theme that was well noticed during the weekend of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, full of fast corners where, in fact, the French car’s shortcomings in terms of load had left it fighting for the back rows.
Precisely for this reason, despite the double points round between Monaco and Canada, there were doubts about what the potential of the A524 could be in Barcelona, a track which notoriously tests the aerodynamic qualities of the single-seater more than the mechanical ones, especially in terms of load generated. Indeed, considering that no technical innovations were foreseen either for the Spanish stage or for the next GPs, Pierre Gasly’s fear was that the races following the one in Montreal could have reserved some more difficulties.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Yet, since the first free sessions, positive indications have arrived in Barcelona about the potential of the transalpine team, which was also able to finish in the top 5 in FP2 thanks to Gasly. Although they were not able to repeat themselves in qualifying, where clearly the top teams began to seek the limit using the margin they had previously kept aside, Gasly and Ocon were able to achieve a double top ten, among another, also putting Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri behind them, stopped by errors and a Q3 that was difficult to digest.
Although an extremely positive result had arrived on the flying lap, also thanks to the difficulties of the opponents, on the other hand it was conceivable that maintaining those positions later in the race would hardly have been possible, even taking advantage of the three-place penalty assigned to the Mexican of the Red Bull for Canada facts.
Yet, in reality, Alpine was not far from coming close to achieving the feat: if Piastri was an out-of-reach target, on the other hand Perez, who was on a three-stop strategy, was able to overtake Gasly only in the last kilometers of the race with a fresher tyre. Under the checkered flag, in fact, the gap that divided the two was less than three seconds, which left a hint of regret at Alpine. On the other hand, however, there is a smile, especially for the performances shown in Barcelona, superior to those of rivals such as Aston Martin and Haas, even though the latter, in reality, did not finish far behind.
Without the five second penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, Nico Hulkenberg with the VF-24 would have finished just over two seconds behind Esteban Ocon, who however had to fight at the end with a lack of load probably caused by debris: “We saw that at the end of the race there was apparently some damage. The engineers saw a load loss, but I don’t know why. We need to investigate, maybe we picked up some debris or something… because there was no contact, it was a calm race. But, overall, it was a very positive day for us,” said the Frenchman at the end of the race.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Teammate Pierre Gasly was also very satisfied, taking home a ninth place that gave the French team another two points in the world championship, which, combined with Ocon’s tenth position, allowed them to overtake Haas, who remained stuck on seven points against the Enstone team’s eight. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the weekend is that the drivers themselves, in reality, cannot find a real reason as to why the A524 was so competitive in the Barcelona weekend.
“It was the best race of the year for us as a team. On Saturday we qualified very well and the race went well, it was nice. I absolutely have to understand why this track seems to fit the package much more than the other circuits, but I am very satisfied with the team and the direction we are taking,” said Gasly.
The positive aspect is that the innovations brought about in recent weeks seem to have had the desired effects not only in terms of weight, but also in terms of load and balance because, as anticipated, a track like this at the beginning of the season would have exposed all the weak points of the single-seater. All this also having to race with wings that tend to be weaker than those of, for example, Haas, the most fearsome rival team of the weekend, given that the A524 has to compensate for the lack of top speed that has always penalized it.
“I don’t understand why this potential isn’t there in other places. We still need a bit of consistency, but at the same time the consistency is there. In the last three races we scored points in Monaco, we scored points in Canada, we also scored points in Spain, so we are finding consistency,” added Gasly.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Monaco is a very particular track, in Canada there were mixed conditions, where, as we know, in these types of conditions the performance of the cars levels out a bit. Instead, this weekend we were faster than our rivals, so yes, there is definitely some good news, but there are also some answers to find.”
The double Spanish top ten, although coming in a negative weekend for Racing Bulls, now generally the reference team for the midfield, represents a great injection of confidence for the Enstone team, with the hope of being able to repeat it also on different tracks such as Austria and Silverstone.
“I hope that’s the case, I wouldn’t have bet on ourselves this weekend and we were competitive, so I really hope that next week in Austria we will be able to repeat ourselves. Among other things, there will be the sprint, so it will also be a different format. But yes, we hope to be in a similar position,” Gasly said.
