Esteban Ocon lambasted Alpine’s strategy during Saturday’s qualifying for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, claiming Alpine “took all the wrong decisions” en route to a double Q1 elimination.
Qualifying started in wet conditions on Saturday afternoon, but the 18-minute Q1 session saw a transition from wet to dry, cueing a frantic flurry of action as drivers bolted on soft tyres and fought to get into Q2.
With the track constantly evolving, timing when to take your run was of paramount importance and any strategic slip-ups would prove costly.
Alas, for Alpine it wasn’t their best day at the office according to Ocon who blamed his and team-mate Pierre Gasly’s 18th and 20th place finishes to poor planning.
“We took all the wrong decisions, we pushed at the wrong moments, we recharged when the track was driest and it was clearly not going our way. We were offset compared to most people.
“And then at the end, I was sure I didn’t take the checkered flag, so I had an extra lap, so I kept pushing. I was up by a long way at the time and then three corners later it cleared on the system that I didn’t cross the line, so I could have gone through.
“It is very disappointing obviously that we didn’t manage to optimize that session and we need to do better than that for sure.”
Ocon dismissed the lottery of a mixed session sparing Alpine’s blushes, saying “It’s never fully luck” that helps you advance in that type of qualifying session.
“There is an element where you plan things ahead and you look at the information that you have in the right moment.
“Most of the other teams managed to get through and it is not an excuse for us. We have been very sharp in the past in these things and that should not happen now.”
The timing is particularly poor for Alpine given its recent improvement.
During the first two legs of the triple-header at Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring, Alpine made Q3 on both occasions and with both cars at the former.
Furthermore, Alpine picked up four points through the Spanish and Austrian GPs, but its task at Silverstone looks insurmountable to continue a points-scoring trend.
“At the moment we are not very well optimised for dry running, so hopefully it will rain, but we will see what we [can] do,” Ocon said on Saturday hoping classic British summer rain intervenes in the Grand Prix.
“You need to take a bit of a gamble on that one, set-up wise, just in case it’s wet on the weekend.”
