Monaco Grand Prix – Alonso roughed up by Ocon
A new setback for the two-time Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso, who was soundly beaten by his teammate Esteban Ocon during the qualifying session in Monaco. But Alpine struggled!
After a promising Spanish Grand Prix for the new Alpine team, particularly during qualifying, the French team ultimately misses out on the crucial qualifying session in Monaco. Alpine had not been convincing during the free practice sessions, never managing to break into the top 10. But it is especially Fernando Alonso’s underperformance that stands out this Saturday, once again overshadowed by Esteban Ocon.
Alonso powerless
Fernando Alonso finally sees his day end as early as Q1, only placing in 17th position on the starting grid for Sunday’s race. The double world champion has been outperformed in qualifying by his French teammate, Esteban Ocon, in the last four Grand Prix. He commented on this challenging weekend for him and his team after his elimination.
« We just weren’t quick in all sessions since the beginning of the weekend. We were hoping for more performance after Portugal and Barcelona. We were hoping Monaco would be a track for us, but that is not the case. »
« It will be difficult for the race. The result is rather poor, it puts us far behind. We try to learn and be better for the next races.
Fernando Alonso: « The result is rather bad, it puts us far behind »
It’s a little better for Esteban Ocon who still falls short of Q3, in eleventh position. The Frenchman nonetheless (presumably) got the best out of his car, sorely lacking performance this weekend.
Furthermore, the French driver will benefit from the choice of tires for the Sunday race. Interrogated after the session by Canal +, the Normand replied: ” Satisfied? You can never be when you don’t qualify for Q3 but we did our best with the car’s potential. I’m pretty happy with my lap. I was really pushing the limit everywhere.”
It is necessary that we continue to work, that we continue to understand where we lost performance compared to the previous weekend. We have seen things that will be useful to us later, fundamental problems that we have had for a while. Eleventh is always a good place because we can choose the tires, said the French driver.
Esteban Ocon: « we did the best with the car’s potential »
