The 2024 Formula 1 season began with Alpine mired at the back of the field. The A524, their challenger for the 2024 campaign, came in overweight and as a result, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly locked out the back row at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Improvement has come, but slowly, to the Enstone-based operation. Alpine arrived at the São Paulo Grand Prix languishing in P9 in the Constructors’ Championship standings, three points behind eighth-place Williams and 32 points behind sixth-place Haas.
What a difference a single race can make.
Ocon and Gasly thrived in the rain in São Paulo, storming to a double-podium finish with Ocon finishing second, and Gasly behind him in third. Factor in the two points Gasly added with a seventh-place finish in the F1 Sprint Race in São Paulo, and Alpine banked a stunning 35 points in Brazil, catapulting them into P6 in the standings.
It was a result that Ocon stated “spiced things up” for the team down the stretch.
“Thank you. Yeah, it’s been a fun race, definitely. An unexpected one, that’s for sure,” said Ocon in the FIA Press Conference ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “Looking at our dry pace, that’s not where we were at all. But when the rain came, it definitely opened up opportunities. Yeah, I mean, I felt good in those conditions. It reminded me a little bit of 2016, you know, at the time where I was fighting for a point with the Manor. And yeah, we were leading the race for a while, which felt good, definitely.
“And yeah, I think it’s been a very nice one because it spiced things up for our end of season. Now that we can be, you know, fighting near the other teams. teams, you know, in the Constructors’ Championship. So it’s going to be a big fight, which is a lot more entertaining for us. And yeah, it brings up, you know, fun and joy for all the people around the factory.”
Turning to this weekend, Ocon outlined that while it might not be wet, the team delivered a strong result in the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix a season ago, which could foreshadow another solid result this weekend.
“Well, I think we need to keep the foot to the ground,” said Ocon, who finished fourth in Las Vegas in 2023. “That’s going to be very important. I don’t think we are going to be able to fight for podiums and almost wins like in Brazil. But last year here, we finished fourth, which was also a very strong race. But yeah, this year would be much more difficult with the car pace we have in the dry. So, yeah, we need to do the best we can, take all the opportunities that there is, and hopefully it will be a positive one for us.”
However, Ocon conceded that he was not as confident about the team holding on to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship standings.
“I can only talk for myself here. I’m not very confident, to be fair, at the moment,” said Ocon. “Looking at you know our dry pace, we’ve improved recently, getting some updates to the car. It’s been getting better, but as I said it can flip completely from one side to another, having a decent result and these races are usually when the opportunities arrive. So we need to be on top of that if something happens to be able to score some points and close the season that way.”
Even if they do not hold on to sixth in the standings, the team has come a long way from where they began the season, a stunning turnaround under the guidance of new Team Principal Oliver Oakes.