Alpine’s point-less season continued at Suzuka as their drivers’ races were ruined after they made contact at the restart.
The pair tangled as Pierre Gasly moved left to avoid colliding with Yuki Tsunoda’s RB as it came towards him. Gasly made contact with his team mate as he overtook the A524.
Gasly, who finished 16th, said the damage (pictured above) significantly affected his car. “At the second [start], after the red flag, I overtook the Haas, then Esteban and then got myself alongside Yuki [Tsunoda]. At that point, I was sandwiched between both in an unfortunate racing incident.”
The clash, “meant I had significant damage to the floor – costing around 30 points of downforce – and therefore lap time as a result of the damage,” Gasly continued. “From then, it was a very difficult race, there was not much we could do other than push as hard as possible.”
Both drivers were lapped by the end of the race. Ocon, who finished one place ahead of his team mate, said the loss of parts from his floor (pictured below) did not affect his car as significantly.
“We picked up some damage at the start and after that we tried some different strategy options to give us a fighting chance,” he said. “But, ultimately, we were not quick enough today to compete with those around us and keep them behind after the restart.
“It was unfortunate to pick up damage, however, I do not think it made a huge difference to the overall picture of the race.”
Team principal Bruno Famin said “both cars suffered significant losses in downforce” because of the collision, but admitted their performance was not strong enough to begin with. “We are lacking pace and we must keep improving in all areas and bringing upgrades to the car.”
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
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