Pierre Gasly disqualified from qualifying in Baku, the Alpine in the background of the grid

At Alpine, this Saturday in Baku (Azerbaijan), we must say to ourselves: "Can't wait for Sunday". The qualifications were completely missed by the French team. Not only, Esteban Ocon hit the wall (20th and final time), but in addition, Pierre Gasly was disqualified!

An update on Pierre's Qualifying today. pic.twitter.com/YfPu3Ar4v7

—BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) September 14, 2024

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The Norman had initially set the 13th fastest time at the wheel of his A424. A real performance considering the potential of his car. But the FIA ​​technical stewards detected that theAlpine had exceeded the instantaneous fuel flow limit during the qualifying session.

Consequence: Pierre Gasly will start from the back of the grid in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which will start on Sunday at 13 p.m. metropolitan France time.

Oliver Oakes, Bruno Famin's replacement as Team PrincipalAlpine F1 Team, gave a disappointing assessment of its day. “Despite Pierre’s great effort to reach the second half of qualifying, he was disqualified for exceeding the fuel mass flow rate in his final attempt in Q2, which is disappointing given the speed he displayed. I have to apologise on behalf of the team to Esteban, who went into the back foot after seeing his preparations seriously hampered by reliability issues in two of the three practice sessions.”

The Briton, however, remains hopeful for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.. “Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, the car seemed to be improving with each session, with more promising pace on the long runs. It will be a tough race given our starting positions. This circuit has shown in the past that opportunities can quickly present themselves to move up and we need to be there to take advantage of them.”