F1 | Alpine, Budkowski: “Fernando's race was ruined after a bend”

Esteban Ocon's tenth place saved Alpine's weekend in Istanbul, continuing among other things to extend the French team's record of consecutive points-scoring races this year, always in the top ten except for the first stage in Bahrain. Alonso's Sunday was terrible: starting from fifth position, the two-time world champion spun at the start after a fortuitous contact with Gasly, and subsequently rammed Schumacher. Ocon, on the other hand, did very well, tenth at the finish line without ever returning to the pits.

“It was a rather poor result for the team – said Marcin Budkwoski, executive director of Alpine. Fernando was hit by Gasly at the first corner and then there was another accident with Schumacher. From that moment on, his race was severely compromised. He was unable to find the rhythm, even after tire graining. We need to check whether the car was not damaged by the two contacts. The result is frustrating, as he started in fifth position, and even more so considering how Gasly placed himself. Esteban, on the other hand, put in a splendid performance in terms of tire management. He did the entire race on a set of intermediate tires to score a point. It is a good result, given that he started in twelfth position, in a race in which no one retired. Although we continue our run of points finishes for the fifteenth consecutive race, we have lost ground in the fight for fifth place in the championship standings. Now we focus on the next round in Austin, where we will try to make up for it."