Alpine’s Otmar Szafnauer: “Today was all about staying composed under pressure”

Otmar Szafnauer reflected on a ‘brilliant’ Monaco Grand Prix for the BWT Alpine F1 Team as they secured their first podium finish of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season on Sunday.

Esteban Ocon took third place around the Circuit de Monaco despite rain playing havoc and pressure from Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Lewis Hamilton, while Pierre Gasly backed up his team-mate by taking seventh place as Alpine secured their best points haul of the year so far.

Szafnauer, the Team Principal of the Enstone-based team, praised everyone within the team for their hard work in building a car capable of fighting for the top three in Monaco, and for staying calm despite the weather making pit call decisions tricky to get right.

The American also praised the ‘world class drives’ of both Ocon and Gasly, and he says everyone at Alpine must look at this result as motivation to ensure this becomes a more common occurrence for the team as they look to regain their place within the elite teams in Formula 1.

“What a brilliant day for the team here in Monaco,” said Szafnauer.  “Congratulations to everybody today, from those trackside, to our staff members across Enstone and Viry for their hard work in delivering a car that has proved its capability to fight for the podium.

“Today was all about staying composed under pressure – notably for our pit crew, engineers and strategists – in dealing with some challenging circumstances with the varying tyre strategies and unpredictable weather.

“It was also about two world class race drives from both Esteban and Pierre to deliver such a strong team result. Well done to everyone and this result must serve as motivation for more results like this during this season.”