From Stellar Performance to Bad Luck: Alpine's Take on the Chaotic F1 Australian Grand Prix

Unlucky Alpine: Gasly's brilliant race turns into disaster as he crashes with teammate Ocon

Alpine had a bittersweet day at the Australian Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly was having an impressive race, holding his own in the top five and keeping pace with some of the biggest names in the sport. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon was also making headway, climbing up to P10 and looking like he would secure a point. Unfortunately, Gasly's fortunes turned sour when he ran wide and collided with his teammate on the final restart, sending them both into the wall. Despite their strong showing, the Alpine drivers were left to rue their bad luck in a race that proved to be a rollercoaster ride for many teams.

Esteban Ocon, DNF

“It’s a real shame for both cars not to finish today’s race, especially after showing great pace all weekend. We had the performance to be fighting the Ferraris and the Aston Martins, so to walk away with nothing is a tough one for all of us. The restart at the end was very chaotic and everything went so fast. The clash with Pierre was unfortunate and I’m glad we’re both OK. We’ve spoken about it, and we’re all good and there’s no hard feelings. We’re both already looking forward to the next one and I know the whole team will want to put this weekend behind us.”

AUSTRALIAN GP RACE RESULTS

Pierre Gasly, DNF

“I’m very disappointed in the outcome of today’s race. We were in fifth place for most of it, chasing Carlos [Sainz] for fourth place and we showed really good race pace. For us to be so close to scoring ten points and leaving without any is a bitter one for us to take. Right now, we must focus on the positives and that is how we managed our race and how we were able to take the fight to our rivals ahead. I’m glad both Esteban and I are OK after the incident. As a team, we’ll move on and keep focused for the next race.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal

“While it’s disappointing to leave here with zero points, we can be satisfied and positive with the performance of our car today. We showed we can race with our close rivals ahead and, indeed, close cars down and be clinical when it counts. Pierre drove very well today, running much of the race in fifth place and in the fight for a podium alongside the Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari. We must take the positives of this and use it as motivation going forwards. Esteban was certainly unfortunate with the sequence of events early in the race, but he did a good job to climb his way back into the points with some well-judged overtaking moves. It was unfortunate to have both our cars come together at the third standing start and I’m glad both drivers are OK given the nature of the incident. We’ll keep moving forwards and these hard moments are what brings the team closer together. We’re already looking forward to Baku where an upgrade is planned.”