The new format of the sprint weekend only includes one hour of training, making it difficult for teams to work with new products, especially in Baku, where accidents are common.
Alpine nevertheless decided to bring aerodynamic novelties to Baku, including a new bottom, but on Friday Pierre Gasly missed most of practice due to a hydraulic fluid leak and a fire, and Esteban Okon was detained in the pits for fear that his car also such problems are possible.
Sports director Otmar Szafnauer admits these delays have made it difficult for the team…
Otmar Szafnauer: “First Pierre’s car caught fire due to a leak in the hydraulic system, then we discovered a problem with the gearbox of Esteban’s car. Fortunately, it turned out to be insignificant, but in the end we did not have enough time to change the bottom and compare everything.
We had only an hour to evaluate the effect of the novelties prepared. Moreover, these are not small improvements, but a new bottom, for which we still have to find the settings to make it work, but we have lost half of the training.
We made this choice ourselves and brought new items to the sprint phase. We probably could have done anything, but we couldn’t predict any reliability issues. If we had known that we would lose half an hour in one training session, we would have made a different decision.
I’m happy that the changes to Okon’s car settings during qualifying meant that he went faster and faster. He made a small mistake in the last corner in the second session, otherwise he could have made it to the final.
I am optimistic about when we can fully exploit the potential of the new floor and our other aerodynamic innovations.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
