09/07/2023
NEWS STORY
BWT Alpine F1 Team endured a weekend of frustration at the British Grand Prix with both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon unfortunately retiring from the 52-lap race at Silverstone.
Esteban retired on lap nine after suffering a hydraulic leak on his A523, while Pierre was forced to pit with broken suspension after Lance Stroll's careless move into Turn 16 six laps from the end of the race while fighting for the points.
The team looks forward to returning to Enstone and Viry before turning attention to the Hungary-Belgium double header.
Esteban Ocon: "It's not been our weekend and that is summed up by our race today. We had a decent start to the race, but it was over early for us with a hydraulic leak on the car. In the end, as a team, we did not score any points which is extremely disappointing. We need to regroup and react, especially given the leap some of our competitors have made over the last couple of races. Overall, we probably did not maximise the potential of the car this weekend so there are definitely many things to review to see how we can come back stronger. Budapest is next, one of my favourite tracks with some great memories, so we hope to bounce back and have a strong result."
Pierre Gasly: "It really seems we're on the wrong side of some things at the moment, especially luck. I was having a strong race, closely behind Fernando [Alonso], and we really should have been in the fight with him at the end of the race. Unfortunately, the timing of the Safety Car, just after my pit-stop, meant we fell back outside of the points. And then, while fighting to climb back into the top ten, our race was over through an incident beyond my control when Lance [Stroll] hit me and damaged my suspension. As a team we have a lot of things to work on to keep taking the fight to our rivals. We will stick together as a team, regroup, and go to Budapest with some confidence for a better result."
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal: "It's always a bitter feeling when you leave a Grand Prix without scoring points; especially our home race for Enstone at Silverstone. Esteban retired with a hydraulic leak - a frustrating issue which we must resolve. It meant Esteban was not able to show his hand in the race, which is made even more disappointing given how the race played out. Pierre was extremely unfortunate. He made a great start from tenth and was well in the fight for a good result. The Safety Car was ill-timed for him, seconds after his pit-stop, which meant a handful of cars were able to benefit from a free-stop to jump Pierre. He made another good getaway at the Safety Car restart to climb his way towards the points but was twice unfortunate with Stroll's double infringement; the second of which led to Stroll hitting Pierre causing suspension damage and bringing an early end to our race. It's certainly not been our weekend but we must remain confident in our ability to bounce back in Budapest."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone here.