06 May 2023

BWT Alpine F1 Team reached Q3 with both cars for the second time of the 2023 season as Pierre Gasly qualified fifth and Esteban Ocon eighth in Qualifying for tomorrow’s Miami Grand Prix at the Hard Rock Stadium.

 

 

A red flag late in the top ten shootout brought an abrupt halt to the session with Pierre in fifth and Esteban eighth after their initial laps on used Soft tyres. 

Both drivers looked strong throughout Saturday with Esteban fifth in Free Practice 3 and Pierre in sixth before cruising through Q1 and Q2 with a series of impressive runs. Tomorrow’s 57-lap race begins at 15:30 local time.

 

 

Free Practice 3


Esteban, P5, 1:28.407secs, 25 laps; Pierre, P6, 1:28.428secs, 24 laps


Qualifying


Q1


Esteban, P7, 1:27.872secs; Pierre, P10, 1:28.061secs

Q2


Esteban, P6, 1:27.444secs; Pierre, P8, 1:27.612secs


Q3


Esteban, P8, 1:27.935secs; Pierre, P5 1:27.786secs

 

 

Esteban Ocon: “What a difference a week makes. I’m proud of the team for this strong recovery after our disappointment in Baku and we very much deserved to have both cars in Q3 in Qualifying. We were probably a little unlucky with the red flag at the end as I do feel there was more on the table and we could have been higher up the grid. We’re still in a good position for tomorrow’s race and we have a good enough car here to come away from this weekend with points in the bag.”

 

 

Pierre Gasly: “I’m very pleased with today’s Qualifying and starting in fifth puts us in a good position for the race. It’s great that both Esteban and I are in the top ten to secure an important team result, especially after last weekend. It’s important for us to come back strong. The red flag was unfortunate just as we were about to begin our final lap on new Soft tyres as I was feeling pretty good and it would have been interesting to see where we would have finished. That said, my lap on used tyres was decent, enough to be fifth on the grid and we’re all looking ahead to tomorrow’s race where we must aim to convert this performance into points.”

 

 

Alan Permane, Sporting Director: “As a team, we are happy with today’s Qualifying result with Pierre in fifth and Esteban in eighth. We’ve had a very strong Saturday, right from the beginning, with a productive Free Practice where we were able to fine tune the cars ahead of Qualifying. Both Q1 and Q2 were relatively trouble free for us and we looked quick enough throughout to comfortably reach Q3. Pierre managed a fantastic lap on his used Soft tyre to go fifth, so credit to him for maximising that run. There was a little more on the table for Esteban on his effort, but it’s still a solid job and he’s also put himself in a good position in eighth. It’s great to have both cars comfortably in Q3 – and deservedly so – and it’s important now we can convert this result into points in tomorrow’s race. The weather in this part of Florida can be unpredictable and we’ll be ready to take any opportunity.”