Back to business in Barcelona as BWT Alpine F1 Team gears up for Spanish Grand Prix

Esteban Ocon continued from where he left off after last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, by finishing third in Free Practice 1 with team-mate Pierre Gasly in fifth in the opening session.

Looking to get up to speed on the familiar 4.657km circuit and continue to validate the recent upgrade package introduced in Monaco, both drivers ran a smooth programme ahead of tomorrow’s Qualifying at 16:00 local time.  

Free Practice 1
Esteban, P3, 1:15.418secs, 28 laps
Pierre, P5, 1:15.545secs, 27 laps

Free Practice 2
Esteban, P5, 1:14.242secs, 30 laps
Pierre, P10, 1:14.457secs, 29 laps

Esteban Ocon: “It was a productive Friday here at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the team. We used both Free Practice sessions well, testing different things and getting through our planned programme. We made the necessary changes from Free Practice 1 to Free Practice 2 but there is still some work to do to get the car in decent shape both on low and high fuel. Overall, we are satisfied with the day’s work, with plenty to go through tonight in order to be in a good position for Qualifying.”

Pierre Gasly: “I would say it’s been a solid day for us in Barcelona. The car felt good and we’ve made a decent start to our weekend which has given us a foundation to build from for the rest of the weekend. It’s been good to be back at a permanent race track and a nice challenge with the revised circuit layout without the chicane, which makes the lap feel very quick. There’s a few small things for us to solve on our side – normal for any Friday – and I’m feeling confident that we can have a strong outcome tomorrow for Qualifying where we aim for another Q3 appearance.”

Ciaron Pilbeam, Head of Trackside Engineering: “We’re back on a permanent and conventional circuit here in Barcelona after racing at the last few events on semi-permanent or street circuits. It’s a place everyone in Formula 1 knows well and it’s a good venue for testing all aspects of the car. We’ve had a relatively productive day where we’ve aimed to further validate the benefits from recent upgrades and continue to learn more about the car, especially off the back of a strong performance last time out. We look to be in reasonable shape with both drivers having similar feedback and showing decent pace. It’s important to qualify well here but tyre degradation in the race is quite high too so we need to get everything right. The aim is to see both cars in Q3 to put ourselves in the best possible position to have a good race.”