02/03/2024
NEWS STORY
Esteban started from P19 on New Softs, finished P17: Pit-Stops on Lap 11 for New Hards, Lap 31 for New Hards. Fastest Lap: 1min 36.226secs.
Pierre started from P20 on New Softs, finished P18: Pit-Stops on Lap 13 for New Hards, Lap 32 for New Hards, Lap 46 for New Softs. Fastest Lap: 1min 34.805secs.
Esteban Ocon: "Today was a continuation of what we saw in Qualifying yesterday and, overall, it has not been the weekend we wanted. Most importantly we had a clean race and collected valuable data that we can take into the race in Jeddah next week. It will be interesting to see how we fare on different layouts and in different conditions. We'll dig in and put our heads together during the short break between races and see where we can improve. We have to stay focused, stay positive and keep going in the right direction. Collectively as a team we have to keep our heads up and foot down going to Saudi Arabia."
Pierre Gasly: "It was not our day but probably what we expected in the end. I had a great launch off the line, passed a couple of cars but then I was caught by some Turn 1 chaos with cars spinning in front, which put me back. That was not ideal but after that, we did all we could do with what we had in our hands today. We have many areas to keep improving and I know the hard work will continue behind the scenes. We have to keep making steps forward as we are not where we want to be right now. Next week it's a different track, a new opportunity and a fresh challenge for us to keep showing progress."
Bruno Famin, Team Principal: "We knew the start of the season was going to be difficult and that has been the case in Bahrain. That said, we are doing everything we can with what we have right now and we will keep finding improvements and making progress each time we are on track. Credit to the team and the drivers for their efforts here in Bahrain over the last couple of weeks. The togetherness of the team will shine through. Next week we go to Jeddah, a completely different track to Bahrain, which brings a new opportunity to keep learning and progressing our A524 package. The hard work will continue."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Bahrain here.