30/04/2024
NEWS STORY
BWT Alpine F1 Team heads to Miami for Round 6 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the Miami Grand Prix.
Bruno Famin, Team Principal: It was good to experience the first Sprint weekend of the season in China last time out, ahead of the second Sprint of the season in Miami this weekend. Sprints are intense weekends. The new format is certainly more exciting, especially a packed-out Saturday with the shorter race followed by Qualifying. China showed that we have a lot of work ahead of us. We brought an upgrade to one car - which we will have on both cars in Miami - and this has enabled us to make some progress. But it still underlined that we are some way from our ambitions. We must keep pushing for performance and keep understanding our complete package so we are able to maximise our opportunities. Both drivers spent time with the team last week on the simulator in preparation. Everyone is working hard behind the scenes and we aim for a good weekend in Miami.
Esteban Ocon: Coming away from China, it was promising to see the upgrades performing as expected, and that we were able to race with the cars around us, in both the Sprint format and the Grand Prix itself. It was an amazing effort by the whole team to fast-track the new parts one race earlier than planned. The upgrades enabled us to make some progress, but collectively as a team we must keep our foot on the gas and maintain the speed in which we bring performance to the car. It was a pity not to come away with anything from Shanghai and reward the team for their efforts. But getting so close gives us extra motivation to go at least one better in Miami.
Miami is a place I always look forward to go racing at. It is a unique setting, even by Formula 1 standards, with the track navigating the perimeter roads of the Hard Rock Stadium. The organisers really know how to put on a show and the event keeps getting bigger and better each year. 2024 will be our third visit to Miami and it is a track I enjoy driving. The circuit has a challenging mix of medium and high-speed turns - particularly in the first sector - as well as long straights and traction zones.
Historically it can be quite slippery off-line, so it is important to be accurate and precise. It looks like there will be hot conditions across the weekend, which could also impact tyre strategy and influence decision-making for the Sprint and the race.
It has been a busy few days between races, with a brief pit-stop back at the factory to meet with the engineers and spend a full day on the simulator. It is imperative to spend valuable time with the team and find every last bit of performance. It was great visiting Enstone and feeling the energy and determination in the team to keep improving. I also spent the week training hard preparing for the conditions in Miami, as well as learning lines for some film projects we are currently working on. I have also spent some time working and collaborating with Richard Orlinski, the brilliant contemporary French artist, who has designed my helmet for this weekend's Grand Prix. Keep your eyes peeled!
Pierre Gasly: Miami is a unique circuit on the Formula 1 calendar and a very unique event in itself. It's been an enjoyable race weekend in Formula 1 over the last two years and, I must say, I do really like going to Miami and racing there. In terms of the circuit, it has a lot of medium and high-speed corners throughout. Then it has some low-speed technical parts before a long back straight where we have seen overtaking opportunities in the past. The event is special with the American fans lined all the way round the Hard Rock Stadium. It's usually a big show, lots of different activities happening, and I do love getting involved. Let's see what this season brings.
It's the second consecutive Sprint weekend after China. The new format seemed to be well received. The one Practice session means we have to be on it from the start in order to be well prepared for Sprint Qualifying and then we have two opportunities to race with points on offer. I will have the upgrade on my car for Miami, which has been a brilliant effort by the team to work on and deliver. We saw glimpses of improvement in China where we seemed to race better. We are getting closer to the points but we have to do more and show more. We have to keep working hard and keep understanding our package to maxmise what we have right now. That's my focus for Miami.
It's been a busy week for me since the Chinese Grand Prix, where I spent most of my week in the UK. I had the privilege of doing some driving, which is always welcome! As part of a future TV tribute piece, I drove the Toleman TG183, Ayrton Senna's first Formula 1 car from 1984 at Silverstone. What a brilliant experience it was and something I will remember forever. The car is a 'Team Enstone' car so we brought it back to the factory to show the entire team. It was great to see so much positivity around Enstone. It was a fantastic day for the team and hopefully it serves as a reminder of our past and gives some inspiration to everybody for the future. On my side, I had a productive day in the simulator in preparation for the race.