Fernando Alonso I’m happy with seventh place

Alpine scored two points in Baku with Fernando Alonso in seventh and Esteban Ocon in tenth. With this result, the team moved up to fifth place in the constructors’ championship ahead of Alfa Romeo.

Fernando Alonso (7th): “Tough race, but we did well and I’m happy with seventh place. Sure, we’ve taken advantage of a few retirements ahead, but it’s happening – we just took the opportunities and showed our strengths.

On new tires I overtook several rivals – our high speed on the straights helped me. We have an efficient power plant, and we like it. We have a pretty close fight with a lot of opponents and I expect something similar in Canada. We will try to earn more points in the next phase.”

Esteban Ocon (10th): “A very difficult race, so finishing in the top ten with two cars is a positive result. As usual, during the briefing we will analyze which parts we can add next time.

We were fast on Friday and Saturday, but we had some bad luck in qualifying, which resulted in a less than optimal position on the track for the race. There was potential to do better if we could start from a higher position.

We leave Baku in good spirits and look forward to returning to Canada next week, where we will also try to earn points.”

Otmar Safnauer, Team boss: “The goal was to score points with two cars and we succeeded. The characteristics of the circuit in Baku provide a unique challenge for the drivers and teams, so we knew that if we made it to the finish, we would earn points.

This weekend, however, the car had great potential. Esteban had no luck in qualifying, so his starting position was lower than we would like. In the race, both pilots acted wisely and calculated their actions – we are happy that they both finished in the top ten.

The team will spend the next few days analyzing the situation and preparing for the stage in Montreal, where we return next week. We have moved up to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship and are now looking forward to fourth.”