The brightly-lit Sakhir circuit made for a rude awakening for Alpine F1 Team on Saturday, as lackluster pre-season testing results translated to a gut-wrenching qualifying outcome. Stalwarts Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly could only managing second-to-last and dead last, rounding out rows nine and ten to start the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Still, the bitter qualifying pill didn’t seem to shock the French duo, who admitted their lack of competitiveness was apparent from the outset. “Not a surprise unfortunately,” mused Ocon glumly post-session, the team’s bold public optimism wavering after a brutal reality check under the Arabian lights.
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Alpine Struggles to 20th and 19th in Disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying
Yet defiance brewed beneath the disappointment for Alpine. Ocon urged faith in Enstone and Viry’s winning pedigree, professing the team need only stay motivated and united to reroute their wayward ship. Gasly, meanwhile, lamented an ill-fated strategy call that forced him to scrap for a last-chance lap, leaving him believing Q2 was possible with a cleaner run.
Come Sunday’s race start, Alpine will face a trial-by-fire test to measure durability versus sweating for every last millisecond in qualifying-trim. Ocon spies opportunity here, expecting better race pace could vault them from the midfield’s murky depths up towards oxygen and coveted points.
Still the weekend proved an ordeal already for Alpine’s drivers, left grappling downforce deficits through exhaustive setup experiments seeking that elusive “magic button.” Alpine’s upgrades can’t come soon enough, as their rivals threaten to vanish beyond the desert horizon.
