22/07/2023
NEWS STORY
BWT Alpine F1 Team missed out on the top ten in Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying today as Esteban Ocon finished twelfth and Pierre Gasly fifteenth on a disappointing afternoon at the Hungaroring.
For the first time in 2023, the Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA) was in place whereby teams were mandated to use Hard tyres in Q1, Mediums in Q2 and Softs in Q3, bringing an additional challenge to the Qualifying format.
Both drivers progressed through Q1 on Hards but missed out on advancing to Q3 after falling just short on Mediums: Esteban in twelfth, 0.140secs from the top ten and Pierre in fifteenth with his Q2 lap-time deleted for track limits.
Esteban Ocon: "It's a disappointing feeling not to reach Q3. All teams expected some challenges with the new Qualifying format on Hards and Mediums in Q1 and Q2 and that certainly proved to be the case. We've been at our best on the Soft compound this weekend, so it's a pity we could not reach Q3 and see where we could have ended up. There are many things we must review but right now, we will focus on tomorrow's race and working our way back into the points. We will need a good start, a good strategy and I'm confident we can secure some points as a team."
Pierre Gasly: "It's been a frustrating day for the whole team and it's always a bitter feeling not to be in the final part of Qualifying. The qualifying system today is the same for everybody but we seemed to struggle on the harder compounds especially on warm-up and getting the tyres into a window at the beginning of the lap. In plain terms, we were simply not fast enough today. We have to keep our heads down, keep working hard and find ways to make our package quicker. This weekend is not over until the chequered flag drops tomorrow afternoon. We will see what we can do on strategy to make up some places and I'll give it my all on track."
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal: "We are all disappointed to not get a car into Q3. After Practice, we knew it was going to be a challenge to progress through Q1 and Q2 with both drivers reporting similar feedback on the Hard and Medium tyres, which were mandated for Q1 and Q2. We had confidence on the Soft tyres, which, in the end, we were not able to demonstrate after not reaching Q3. The weekend is far from over and we will give it our all to turn around our compromised starting positions and we will do our best to come away with points on Sunday afternoon."
Check out our Saturday gallery from the Hungaroring here.