Between incomprehension and lack of performance, Alpine missed his qualifications in Spain

In the mix at the end of the two free practice sessions on Friday, Alpine aimed for a good performance in qualifying this Saturday with Q3 in sight for his two men. Ultimately, everything did not go as planned for the French clan who saw Fernando Alonso et Esteban Ocon take the door at Q1 and Q2 respectively.

So it's towards a 2^e weekend of row thatAlpine headed without placing his drivers in the last part of qualifying. A new disillusionment for the Blues which can be explained by a lack of performance of the A522 at the key moment but also by poor internal communication less than 24 hours after the good face displayed in free practice.

« It's a little difficult, recognized Esteban Ocon at the microphone of Canal + after missing Q3 by 2 tenths. We went through complicated qualifications. I think there was more performance in the car than what we showed. There were a few rules that worked against us. We lacked performance towards the end of the lap where the tires were overheating. This is what we missed (to move on to Q3). »

Hope for the race

For his part, Fernando Alonso experienced an even more difficult scenario since he was not even able to get out of Q1. In the running for participation in Q2, the double world champion found himself stuck in traffic and immediately lost all hope of qualifying. “ There was a disagreement between the team and me, he explained to Canal +. I started my turn just behind Norris thinking I had a margin of one or two seconds but I had around twenty. If I had known I could have left space for a cleaner ride »

P12 for Esteban & P17 for Fernando in Qualifying. Not where we were aiming for in Barcelona, ​​but the points are tomorrow 💪 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/sdBjDQ42Cn

—BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 21, 2022

Eliminated in Q2 and now 12^e on the grid, Esteban Ocon is not giving up. Used to coming back as was the case in Miami where he finished 8^e after starting last, the Norman has reason to believe in a new comeback.

« We have a set of new tires. We even have several of themhe recalls. That's always a good thing. It gives us hope for tomorrow (Sunday) to try to get back into the Top 10. There will be a lot of investigations (analyzes) after these qualifications. Everything is not perfect but we hope to benefit from it."

Optimistic before qualifying, Alpine missed his appointment once again. A new setback for the A arrow which must now find the best strategy to score points failing to see its competitors widen a small gap in the championship.

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