Miami Grand Prix – Friday Qualifying – BWT Alpine F1 Team

Statements of the pilots of the BWT Alpine F1 team after Friday’s practice and sprint qualifying

FP 1

ESTEBAN 9th in 1:29.163 (23 laps)

PIERRE 10th in 1:29.175 (27 laps)

SPRINT QUALIFICATION

ESTEBAN 13th in 1:28.379

PIERRE 16th in 1:29.185

BWT Alpine F1 Team

ESTEBAN OCON:

“It’s positive that we’ve made it to the second part of sprint qualifying, but it’s obviously disappointing to be so close to the top ten and only miss out by half a tenth of a second. It’s also a small encouraging sign that the gap is narrowing. I was happy with my first lap in SQ2 and the feeling in the car as the grip increased, but on the second try I pushed it too much and struggled with the tires at the end. In the first sector I was in front but I couldn’t stay there for the whole lap, which is also good experience for tomorrow and qualifying for the Grand Prix. There are things we can work on and fix by tomorrow to try to move forward in the sprint and then take another step forward in qualifying.”

PIERRE GASLY:

“The car behaved much better today and we were able to get through the first section. My first lap was good but on the second attempt I lost the car due to quick changes of direction in turns 5 and 6. It wasn’t ideal and my effort was compromised with no chance to improve. We’ll take some time to look at some things and see what we can improve tomorrow. We have the sprint and then Sunday afternoon qualifying for the Grand Prix, which matter the most. I have a lot more to offer this weekend.”