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Ocon to start from pitlane for Azerbaijan GP sprint and grand prix
It was already a troubled weekend for the French manufacturer, with Pierre Gasly starting 19th in both the sprint and the race following Friday’s mechanical failure and crash, before Saturday’s team suffered another further difficulties.
Ocon was 13th in the sprint race, one place behind where he was set to start, but he will now no longer occupy the grid.
After qualifying in the sprint shootout, Alpine confirmed that Ocon’s car would be removed from the parc ferme.
With sprint form meaning the driver is locked into the setup from qualifying on Friday, changes to Alpine’s plans for his car mean he faces penalties.
The new rules state that any change in car parameters between the start of qualifying and the start of the sprint race means he will start Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s main grand prix from the pit lane.
Ahead of Alpine’s tough weekend, it has high hopes that the revised floor will deliver a good performance boost.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523
Photography: Andy Horn / motorsport pictures
While introducing major new components into a compressed sprint race schedule always carried the risk of running into trouble, team principal Otmar Szafnauer said it was ultimately reliability issues that cost him the most.
Speaking to Autosport earlier at the weekend, Szafnauer said: “We made that choice. Maybe it got us in trouble, but we couldn’t predict reliability issues. If we knew we had half an hour of FP1, we’d have Different choices will be made.
“So, hindsight is a lovely thing here. But for an hour, we thought we had plenty of time to make the necessary settings changes.”
Gasly was hampered on Friday by a car fire sparked by a hydraulic leak before he crashed into a barrier early in the first quarter, keeping himself out of the race.
The Barcelona-Catalunya circuit places high demands on the tires of the F1 cars. Pirelli therefore brought the new C1 tire to the Spanish Grand Prix for the first time this weekend. Pirelli also said teams must increase tire pressure by one point.
Hulkenberg, who has not raced for Barcelona at Renault since 2019, finished his second practice session on Friday afternoon behind Fernando Alonso and Red Bull pacesetter Max Verstappen.
The returning German still hadn’t completed the final corner at 170 mph, and he ended up clocking 0.27 seconds in 1 meter 14.177 seconds. The next 12 cars finished 15th behind his teammate Kevin Magnussen by 0.536 seconds.
Hulkenberg, who was only 18th in FP1, believes his performances in FP2 are “real”, although he expects other teams to find their pace in Saturday’s game.
He therefore called on his team to “remain calm and realistic” despite the exciting result.
Insight: What we learned from Friday’s practice for the F1 2023 Spanish GP
Hülkenberg said: “I think it looks real, but I guess the others didn’t play well, they didn’t play well.
“In particular, there are a lot of top cars and I think they’ll find something or pick it up overnight. We’ve got to be calm and realistic.”
Hulkenberg, who is yet to reach the podium in F1, believes Haas is better suited to Barcelona’s permanent circuit, having finished only 17th in Monaco last time around (with a 10-second penalty for a pit stop error), despite Use a car with an upgraded front wing in the Principality.
He continued: “For me it was important to have a good feeling in the car, a good rhythm.
“I managed to find it today and that’s the most important thing for me and for the driver.
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
Photography: Andy Horn / motorsport pictures
“Obviously, I hope to have an equally good day tomorrow. Just squeezing out what we have.
“But it’s going to get tense again. Even with the Q3 battle, if you see it in midfield, there are still four or five teams and we’re all fighting over the same tarmac.
“It’s going to be a tough, tough battle again… Naturally here too, the car is just in a happier place. It immediately makes me feel better than a week ago in Monaco.”
He added: “It feels good, especially that lap. The new padding gives you more grip on the lap.
“Especially with FP2, I think we’ve gained some performance. In FP1, it’s not quite there yet.”
Meanwhile, Magnussen, who was seventh in FP1, believes a late set-up tweak affected his speed.
While Fernando Alonso is not yet in contention for a win in 2023, the Spaniard’s performance in a relatively strong Aston Martin looks like a comeback. Even with a slightly better car, the nearly 42-year-old F1 driver could take on Max Verstappen, a fight everyone including Pedro de la Rosa would love to see.
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