Okon: In Austria our car was the fourth fastest

The Austrian Grand Prix was the most successful stage of the season for the Alpine team. Thanks to fifth place Esteban Ocon and tenth Fernando Alonso, the team earned 14 points and equaled McLaren in the battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Esteban Ocon (5th): “Today I fought against George Russell, Kevin Magnussen, a little bit Lewis Hamilton, Guanyu Zhou – I had a lot of catching up to do! It turned out great – we had a perfect weekend. I don’t think it was possible to get more than fifth place.

The team got 14 points, which is a lot, and we overtook McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship. A great result, which means we can go to the next stage in France with confidence.

Obviously our car was fourth fastest this weekend. At one point I even hoped to compete with George, but after the virtual safety car he went really fast. In any case, we were fast this weekend and I hope it will stay that way as the season progresses.”

Fernando Alonso (10th): “At the end of the race I was sixth, after a double pit stop I dropped to fourteenth place, but finished tenth. After the pit stop I started to get a strong vibration from the tires so I had to go straight back to the pits to check everything and determine the cause. I went to the track in fourteenth, but regained the position and earned a point.

The car was very fast, so the race was fun. I started 19th, I could have finished 6th – this speed is encouraging.

I agree with Esteban that our car was fourth fastest this weekend. I’m glad we earned points with him, but in the coming races we need to keep earning points with two cars and McLaren battling it out for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.