Finest second
There have been quite a few ‘gentle on the finish of the tunnel’ moments through the mid-season that hinted at indicators of hope for Alpine following a difficult begin to the marketing campaign, similar to their double factors finishes in Canada and Spain.
However clearly nothing might topple that shock podium in Sao Paulo, a outstanding achievement taking into consideration that each drivers had discovered themselves behind the pack a number of months earlier when the season acquired below approach in Bahrain.
There have been a number of strands to the impression of Gasly and Ocon sharing the rostrum; not solely did it extremely haul Alpine up from P9 to P6 within the constructors’ standings – a place that they in the end held onto by the tip of the 12 months regardless of powerful competitors – but it surely additionally marked an interesting second between the 2 drivers, a relationship that has famously skilled many ups and downs since their childhood karting days.
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Worst second
Regardless of ending the marketing campaign on a excessive observe, there have been varied incidents from the beginning of Alpine’s season that could possibly be pinpointed on this class, from a collision between Gasly and Ocon in Monaco by to the seemingly limitless personnel adjustments that had been taking part in out behind the scenes – together with the arrival of their third Group Principal in 18 months – which all appeared to trace at some instability.
There was additionally additional upheaval when it was introduced in September that the squad will not use a works Renault energy unit from 2026 and can as a substitute grow to be a buyer staff, resulting in extra give attention to their off-track goings-on relatively than their on-track exercise.
Nevertheless, maybe the hardest second got here proper out of the blocks on the Bahrain Grand Prix, the place each automobiles lined up behind the grid and endured an equally tough Sunday that noticed them come house in seventeenth and 18th. It was a weekend the place the dimensions of the duty forward of the staff turned dauntingly clear.
