Alan Permanethe Sporting Director of the BWT Alpine F1 Teamwas pleased to see Esteban Ocon other Fernando Alonso qualify fifth and seventh respectively for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, and it showed the A522 is working well this weekend.
Permane felt the team put together ‘three solid’ sessions at the Suzuka International Racing Course and were top eight contenders all afternoon long, and Ocon was able to get ahead of both Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers, while Alonso was able to split them.
“We are very happy with our qualifying performance today and, clearly, our car is working well at this magnificent circuit where it’s brilliant to be back racing,” said Permane.
“We put together three solid qualifying sessions today where everything clicked into place and I think that is reflected on the timesheets.
“Esteban did a great job to keep finding improvements throughout the day to qualify in fifth place.”
Permane knows that the points are only awarded on Sunday afternoon, and Alpine will need to keep their focus in order to score good points as they look to fight back against the McLaren F1 team in their close battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
With rain forecast for Sunday’s race, Permane believes they can contend for the top five regardless of the weather after feeling they had good pace during Friday’s wet running at Suzuka.
“Of course, points are awarded on Sundays and if we can keep our two current places then we’ll be in a great spot,” said Permane.
“We’ll remain realistic, though, be wary of our close competitors, and I think we can have a competitive race tomorrow in any conditions. There is a high chance of rain but, in the wet on Friday, we had no issues so we’re looking forward to whatever may come our way.”
