After snatching tenth place from Williams Racing’s George Russell in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso extended his points scoring streak to four races. Esteban Ocon, a teammate, retired on the first lap.
Alonso had a lot of room to make up after starting fourteenth. If he wanted to keep his his points run going, he needed to make up a lot of ground. The veteran Spaniard battled throughout the race, spending nearly the entire time behind Russell, who was in the final points position.
Alonso completed his move on Russell with four laps to go and climbed to ninth, continuing his run of consecutive points finishes and adding a single point to the team’s total. Despite his satisfaction with the point, Alonso felt he deserved more.
“It was difficult to score points today and we knew this starting from so far back. We are happy with the point, although we know we deserved more this weekend, but it’s better than nothing. It was a tense and a good battle with George [Russell] on-track this afternoon and in the end, we had better tyres and managed to accomplish the overtake.
“On a positive, we saw some good improvements from the team this weekend and the car felt good across all three days here. I feel more confident now going into Silverstone for the next race with the car and the tyres and I’m enjoying being more competitive.”
Esteban Ocon: “I can’t seem to catch a break at the moment”
Esteban Ocon’s disastrous fortnight at the Red Bull Ring came to an end on the other side of the Alpine F1 Team garage.
Ocon got caught up in the middle mayhem on the opening lap after failing to qualify for the second time. The Frenchman who can’t seem to catch a break since signing his contract extension with the team, saw his race last three corners.
Ocon was sandwiched between Mick Schumacher and Antonio Giovinazzi coming out of turn three on the first lap, damaging his Alpine’s front right suspension and forcing him to retire from the race.
Ocon had a terrible streak in Austria and will be aiming for a better result at the British Grand Prix.
“It was unfortunate for our race to end early today. There wasn’t much I could have done as I was sandwiched between Mick [Schumacher] and Antonio [Giovinazzi] at Turn 3 in a racing incident. It’s one of those things and a consequence of starting the race at the back.
“There’s always a chance for fights and contact and it’s easier to be caught up in trouble there. The team and I can’t seem to catch a break at the moment. We’ll reset, restart from zero and prepare for Silverstone. The only way we can go is forwards.”
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