Alpine obviously did a good job. At least that is the opinion of its pilots. Esteban Ocon said: “surprised“By the rapid progress his single-seater has made in recent weeks after new features were introduced on his car on the sidelines of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix on Thursday.”Me and the team were surprised. We expected an increase but we didn’t think the improvements made to the car would bring such performance gains, especially on Saturday‘ he explained during a press conference.

“This is really great news, although we still have a lot of work to do. We don’t go backwards, we don’t stagnate, on the contrary, we make progress and that’s really important for us all to be happyadded Ocon, who clinched an unexpected podium finish in Monaco (3rd) at the end of May.

Gasly: ​​​​”A very good surprise”

His teammate and compatriot Pierre Gasly expected the new features to improve his car’s performance, but not so quickly. “Last season the team showed that improvement breeds progress, that was one of Alpine’s main strengths, so I was confident that the team would improve our performance after our slow start to the season‘ he said at a press conference on Thursday.

“But of course it was a big surprise to see such rapid progress and that we were on the podium in Monaco and fourth fastest in qualifying in Barcelona. The car really seems to have a lot of potential, so I’m quite confident for the coming weekends. There are good points to pay attention to‘ he judged.

Find a running rhythm

In Canada, the Alpine singles, who have both finished in the points in the last three races, will be looking to keep their momentum and be more consistent throughout the weekend as they tend to lack pace during Sunday’s Grand Prix. “At the moment we’re fast in qualifying, but in the race we’re a bit slowershowed Ocon. We have ways to improve that, but getting there is something else. We are working on it, we are experimenting and we will try to implement it.”

The French outfit, who were fourth best last year, currently sit fifth in the provisional Constructors’ Championship but will find it difficult this season with the unexpected appearance of Aston Martin alongside three giants Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari the first four to come . However, after a sluggish start to the season with just eight points in the first four races, Alpine recently raised the bar.