2023 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix highlights

BWT Alpine F1 Team scored six points from the 2023 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, with Pierre Gasly finishing eighth and Esteban Ocon ninth in a tightly contested race dominated by strategy at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Pierre made a bright start from fifth on the grid to take fourth at Turn 1 – continuing his 100% start to the season with first-lap gains at every race – with Esteban also holding onto a top ten spot. With Pierre on a Medium-Hard strategy, he looked to fend off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and narrowly fell short of staying ahead of the front-running pair in the closing stages.

On a one-stop Hard to Medium plan, the latter stage of the race was where Esteban looked to gain places. After an impressive opening stint where he ran as high as third place, the Frenchman settled for ninth with an uneventful race to the line after his late stop for Mediums.

Esteban Ocon:

It’s good to be back in the points with both cars after a decent race for the team today. We opted for the more aggressive strategy by going long on Hard tyres in the first stint, and it did not entirely pay off in the end. We had some good battles with Ferrari and Mercedes and some good overtakes. Our pace was strong, so that is encouraging going forward.

We are satisfied with our job today as I don’t think we could have done much more. Of course, there are things for us to review and improve, but it’s a long season, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming triple header in Europe, where we need to string together three positive races.

Pierre Gasly:

I’m very pleased with the outcome of today’s race, even if we dropped back from our grid position. It would always be a tough task to keep behind some of the faster cars like Max [Verstappen] and Charles [Leclerc], but to be fighting with the Ferrari and Mercedes right to the end of the race is definitely encouraging. We had to fuel save quite a bit in the second half of the race, so the fact we were so close to that top six is a step in the right direction.

After two challenging races for the team, we had to score double points to credit everyone for this result in Miami. We’ll analyse everything, see where we can improve and arrive in Imola ready to keep battling and closing the gap to our rivals ahead.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal

We can take some satisfaction from our weekend performance here in Miami, culminating with double points finish after two fine race drives from Pierre and Esteban. Our race pace looked strong, we managed the tyres well to fight with cars around us, and we came away from here with points on the board. It’s clear we have gained on some rival teams from last season, with Pierre close to holding off the Ferrari and Mercedes at the end and Esteban going long on his first stint very much on the pace of some of the leading cars. That said, today’s race has also highlighted the areas where we must make immediate improvements.

It’s continuous gains we must find. With further upgrades in the pipeline for Imola and the following races, we can look forward to taking that fight to our immediate competitors. It’s been a busy two weeks for the team, and we look forward to returning to Viry and Enstone, where we will analyse the past two races before turning our attention to the triple header.

Alpine F1 Team best pictures:

Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Friday 5th May 2023. Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, USA.

Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine F1 Team. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Friday 5th May 2023. Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, USA.

Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Saturday 6th May 2023. Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, USA.

Pat Fry (GBR) Alpine F1 Team Chief Technical Officer and Laurent Rossi (FRA) Alpine Chief Executive Officer. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Saturday 6th May 2023. Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, USA.

Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523 at the start of the race. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Sunday 7th May 2023. Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, USA.

Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Sunday 7th May 2023. Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, USA.

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