Ocon, a Q2 bringing hope for Alpine ? “Not a relief, but a good progression”

The third was the right one for Alpine ! We had to wait until the third qualification of the year, in Australia, to see a car Frenchwoman cross the threshold of Q1 and enter the Top 15 on the starting grid. In a session in which only 19 cars competed, after Logan Sargeant's forced withdrawal from Williams, Esteban Ocon achieved the feat – let’s dare call it that – of moving into Q2!

Progress for Alpine as Ocon makes Q2 for the first time this season 👍

Catch up with all the highlights from qualifying 🎥#F1 #AusGP

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The Frenchman, almost ecstatic on his radio after Q1, was delighted with a “small victory” for the A arrow. At the Canal+ microphone, however, the Norman then tempered his joy, and reminded us that the French team still has a long way to go before returning to a suitable level. Esteban Ocon also hopes to move up a few positions, taking advantage of possible racing events, which are often numerous in Melbourne.

“It shows that we are not giving up,” underlines Ocon

Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 15th in qualifying in Australia : “Above all, it shows that we don't give up, whether it's for a 15th place or to be in front, we must always try to progress and that's what we did. We manage to move on to Q2… we're not going to say that it's a relief because it's not, but in any case, it's a good progression compared to the last qualification [in Jeddah]. »

“It still feels good to see that what we are doing is paying off, we are managing to maximize the potential of the car. Today, I think the car was the best it has been this season. I was happy with the balance, but now we know that we need more performance to get into Q3. We saw it in this Q2, where I couldn't improve any further. (…) We are going to fight, it’s close, we saw last year that there could be a lot of abandonments. If we get to the end and things happen, you never know, you can hope. »

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