Alpine tested technical innovations

Fernando Alonso set the fourth fastest time in the second practice of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, losing nine tenths of a second to leader Charles Leclerc. His teammate Esteban Okon showed the ninth result. Alpine has tested several new products and was pleased with the speed of the machine, but is cautious about qualifying predictions.

Fernando Alonso (4th): “In Baku it is always difficult on the highway because of the wind, but today we worked out the Friday program without any problems and we were able to test several new products. However, before you qualify, you still need to optimize the settings.

Today we were fast, but we have to work in the evenings to maintain the momentum tomorrow. The car is fast on the straights, but on these tracks you have to compromise on the settings. Let’s see what positions we take tomorrow.

Esteban Ocon (9th): “All in all a good day for us. Baku is one of those circuits where you have to make the most of your training time and do a lot of laps. As in Monaco, in Baku confidence in the car is key. There are many braking points and in each of them you have to act correctly, because the lap time largely depends on this.

Today the car was competitive, which is nice. Let’s see where we are tomorrow.”

Alan Permain, sports director: “We are satisfied with the work done today. The team brought several new products to Baku, which proved to be excellent. Racers are quite happy with the car, but there are areas where you need to improve.

Both training sessions went according to plan and without any problems. We have worked with the tires and have a good understanding of the car’s characteristics on this track with a full and empty tank. The gusty wind played its part and, as we saw today, surprised the riders several times in the final corners, which are quite difficult with a tailwind. We have had a quiet training and are preparing for tomorrow’s qualifying.”