Team Talk - Sunday in Qatar

Alpine F1

Esteban Ocon
“Unfortunately it was a disappointing weekend and a short race for me today in Qatar. I had a good start to the race and had passed Franco [Colapinto]; I was on the left side of Nico [Hülkenberg] but I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It got very narrow and unfortunately, I was already on the outside when the collision occurred and our race was then over. “It was a race incident and not something that we wanted today.”

Pierre Gasly
"It was an incredible race today to finish in fifth place and I'm very happy for all the team. I felt like we managed the race well right from the beginning. It was a tough start but we had the peace to stay with Kevin [Magnussen] and once he pitted it was flat out for us lap after lap. In the end, with the Safety Car, we pitted for Hards and then had to keep Carlos [Sainz] behind all the way until the checked flag. It was certainly an enjoyable race, the car felt good, we were competitive and I was quite confident to hang on to that fifth place. We go into the final round in the fight for the Constructors' Championship and we have to be ready for it.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal:
“It was a well-managed and well executed race by the entire team today to score ten points in fifth place with Pierre. For Esteban he was caught in a Turn 1 incident, which was not his fault. The race was incredibly fast paced with a lot of action up and down the field. Pierre did well to stay in the pack in the hunt for points early on and then benefited with the timing of the Safety Car, like many others, for his mandatory stop. He did an even better job to keep Carlos [Sainz] at bay for fifth place all while managing the tires and doing some fuel saving. Importantly, we go to the season ending race in sixth place in the Constructors' Championship with a small advantage and the target has to be to remain in that position.”

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