The sensational double podium for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly In Brazil has been a big boost for Alpine for a variety of reasons, with its three-place jump in the constructors’ standings potentially making a $30m difference at year’s end.
Ocon and Gasly appeared at the front after deciding to delay their only pitstop in a rain-affected Interlagos race, which gave them track position to the cars that dove into the pits for fresh intermediates.
Then a well-timed red flag allowed the Alpine pair, as well as Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen, to change their tyres without losing time ahead of a rolling restart.
Ocon was initially able to pull away from Verstappen, but after another safety car, the Dutchman comfortably passed Ocon to win his first race in 11 grands prix.
There was arguably more elation at Alpine than at Red Bull, with Alpine having endured a torrid time this year, then suddenly saw its points tally triple thanks to Ocon’s and Gasly’s heroics as they joined Verstappen on the podium.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team, 2nd position, Pierre Gasly, Alpine F1 Team, 3rd position, celebrate in Parc Ferme
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Eyes on the prize (money)
The silverware isn’t just a major boost for the Enstone squad and incoming team principal Oliver Oakes, but it may also make a $30m difference in prize money as the team vaulted from ninth to sixth, past Haas F1 Team and RB with three rounds to go.
“For me, it’s just a great result for the team. Across Enstone and Viry – that’s a big result after the last couple of years, or even the beginning of this year,” Oakes said.
“This does help us to keep the confidence going in the team. Since I arrived after the shutdown, I could see already the build-up to Austin with the sort of tempering of expectations, because it has been really hard to develop a car, especially in-season.
“In Austin, I was sort of full of praise for the fact we brought performance to the car and it was nice to back that up in another way with points in Mexico. And then I think here to see another improvement on that – it definitely does help.
“Credit to everyone at Enstone and Viry, because for them, it does mean a lot. You can see that. The drivers didn’t put a foot wrong in tricky conditions. And also, strategy, those calls, everything. It was a good day.”
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images
‘Rival’ team-mates
For Gasly it was the reward for the way he and Ocon – friends turned rivals turned team-mates – were able to work together to try and help Alpine get through its roughest patch in F1 yet.
“I think we can be very proud of the way we’ve pushed the team forward,” Gasly said. “It’s been tough but we’ve always tried to push the team in the right direction to never give up.
“And on a day like today, even when the car has misbehaved for the majority of the season, everyone tried to [bring their] A-game, and it was just a historical day for the team. So, I’m very proud of everyone working in the team to achieve such a performance.”
