Formula 1 | Step by step, Alpine F1 prepares for Jeddah

Alpine F1 Team began its preparations for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a productive day of testing at Jeddah’s Corniche Circuit.

Esteban Ocon finished the day in eighth place overall – 0.6s off the best lap time – and Fernando Alonso in eleventh, 0.8s from the reference mark. Both drivers gradually gained confidence on this 6.174 km long, fast, exhilarating and very demanding circuit.

“We have reviewed the planned program and have not encountered any problems,” comments Esteban Ocon.

« The more time we spend on the track, the more we understand the balance of the car and the different types of tyres. We also got to see how the car behaves in the evening, the track being much faster in these conditions. On this point, it was a good learning day because the race takes place at night, the key will be to have a good car at this time of day. In the end, I am satisfied and hope to continue on this same dynamic. »

Fernando Alonso confides for his part that « So far we have mainly focused on preparing for the race, and everything has gone relatively well. »

“The car has more potential than what we showed today, which is encouraging for tomorrow. Considering the speeds reached and the adrenaline generated, qualifying on this circuit is quite a challenge. doing well there and it’s not too different from what we had last year. And I think the lap times are pretty good. From what we’ve seen, it could be that the next generation of Formula 1 is more suited to this circuit than to that of Bahrain. »

Alan Permane, Sporting Director, concludes: « On the track, we completed a classic program for a Friday. »

« Jeddah is a very difficult circuit for the drivers, who have to be extremely focused on the whole lap. But it’s also quite a challenge for the engineers, both for the set-up and for the management of certain things like traffic and the speed of communication with the riders. Today we mainly focused on the tires and the way they operate. We noticed a degradation of the front tires and we will have to analyze it for the race on Sunday. car worked well today, better than at the same stage of the weekend last week.It’s again very competitive, and we will do everything tomorrow to be in the right place within this compact field. «