What technical problems Alpine are struggling with at the Formula 1 race in Zandvoort and why Esteban Ocon calls qualifying a “disaster “
Alpine is puzzled after Formula 1 qualifying for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Because neither Pierre Gasly nor Esteban Ocon made it into the top 10. Ocon even dropped out in Q1. And both drivers complain about the poor handling of the A523.
Ocon, for example, states that “unfortunately there was nothing more in it” than 17th place with a 1.1 second gap in the first segment of qualifying. “That makes it all the more disappointing.”
The Alpine driver cites “problems with the rear, lack of stability, strange handling and other difficulties” as the shortcomings of his car. He goes on to say, “We didn’t expect it to be this bad. But when you go to the limit in qualifying, then you see what the limits of your material are. “
Alpine still has no answer to the “catastrophe “
Alpine was “massively limited” at Zandvoort especially in the fast corners, Ocon said. “Actually, we were only really competitive in the slow sections. Turns 7 to 10 were a disaster.”
And what makes the car so petulant? Ocon doesn’t want to pin Alpine’s form at Zandvoort on the track or the recent updates. “It’s for other reasons, I suspect. But we have yet to get to the bottom of it.”
Gasly, meanwhile, did not perceive it to be quite as extreme as Ocon. The twelfth-placed qualifier, however, also speaks of “certainly not a perfect balance” in the car and says: “Entering and exiting each corner it was quite difficult, but not that bad. “
Where does Alpine’s overweight come from?
In his view, Alpine’s biggest handicap was the “greater overweight than usual” this weekend. The A523 is “a few kilograms” too heavy at Zandvoort, Gasly says. Then he says an interesting sentence: “We don’t really know why that is. But there’s a lot of lap time in it.” He estimates that on a lap the excess weight costs “a tenth of a second”.
Had Gasly had that “one tenth of a second”, he would have been in the top 10 in qualifying. “Then you get another chance,” he says. “So we need to get those details right, and even more so because the midfield is so tight.”
That includes better energy management: he ran out of juice on the decisive lap just before the finish line, Gasly complains. “That’s when I lost another hundredths. “
What Alpine hopes for in the race
Despite this, Gasly believes P12 on the grid is “not the end of the world” and says: “I’m pretty confident we can work our way into the top 10. “
Similar sentiments are on Ocon’s mind from further back: “We’ve survived worse and successfully fought back on Sunday. Hopefully we can do that again for points in the race.”
A stumbling block for Alpine could be the two Williams drivers Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant, who both start from the top 10. Gasly is warned: “The Williams is no longer a slow car, but extremely fast on the straights. It’s not easy to get up against that, and in the race we have two of them in front of us. That doesn’t make life any easier for us.”
“No question: we perceive Williams differently in our strategy now. Because if you’re hanging behind a car like that and you can’t overtake, you have to try something else. “