The two moments that allowed Alpine to beat McLaren at Castellet

After several weeks of running behind McLaren, Alpine finally managed to climb to fourth position, which constitutes the priority objective ofenstone. Thanks to the 6th and 8th places of Fernando Alonso et Esteban Ocon, four more points than McLaren were scored, since Lando Norris et Daniel Ricciardo both finished behind a Alpine (7th and 9th). However, the British driver from Woking had the advantage on the grid, thanks to his superb qualification in 5th position. Then in the race, the Alpine made the difference, in two stages… 

Alonso's sensational start where he overtakes Norris and Russell 🔥 #F1 #frenchGP https://t.co/nzlKWPwhV9

— Alpine F1 TEAM FAN FR 🇫🇷 (@AlpineF1Team_fr) July 24, 2022

Crucially, the start allowed Alonso to pass Norris. Perfectly starting from 7th place, Alonso came close to his opponent in turn 1, before passing him and George Russell in T2. Naturally, the pilot Mercedes ended up regaining his place a few laps later, but Alonso had just done the hardest part on Norris, whom he managed to keep behind him throughout the race.

On the Esteban Ocon side, everything got off to a very bad start, however, with a five-second penalty inflicted after hitting Yuki tsunoda. Behind, the Frenchman spent his race blocked behind his former teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The opportunity to test his DRS... after around 25 laps without finding the key, Esteban reached it from the outside in Signes, seven laps from the goal. The Australian, initially resistant, ended up deteriorating and could do nothing to keep up with the pace of the car and the French driver. “Without the penalty, my fight at the end of the race would surely have been more with Lando than with Daniel”, regretted the Frenchman. 

Ocon and Tsunoda make contact on the opening lap! 😳💥#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/1klViutrsS

- Formula 1 (@ F1) July 24, 2022

“Now our objective is very clear, commented Laurent in turn Red. It's about doing everything we can to keep this 4th place in the Manufacturers' championship. It will not be easy, and we will have to make sure we continue to make permanent changes to maintain our competitiveness until the end of the season.” McLaren, for its part, has made progress thanks to its updates, but has not seen the leap forward desired. There are ten rounds left for these two manufacturers to decide between themselves.