Haas staff boss Ayao Komatsu revealed he “by no means anticipated” Alpine to safe its double podium in Brazil that vaulted it to sixth within the Components 1 constructors’ standings – however he pointed to the constructive efficiency displayed by future driver Esteban Ocon.
Alpine has struggled all yr following a poor opening to the season with no factors till spherical six in Miami, but reworked its marketing campaign with a shocking 2-3 at Interlagos final weekend.
Ocon, who completed second forward of team-mate Pierre Gasly and at one stage pulled out a niche to Max Verstappen while main, will be part of Haas in 2025 to companion Oliver Bearman in an all-new line-up and that gave Komatsu a silver lining to what was a disappointing weekend general.
“I by no means anticipated Alpine to attain a double podium however we all the time knew that something can occur,” Komatsu, whose staff scored zero factors on the Brazilian Grand Prix, informed Motorsport.com.
“In these sorts of chaotic races, anybody can rating 15 factors. I wasn’t anticipating 33 factors, however it occurred. Congratulations to Alpine, their automotive was mega in moist circumstances, so fast.
“If there’s a constructive, Esteban, our driver for subsequent yr, drove so nicely. So I despatched a message to congratulate him right away. It’s important to respect your opposition, they did an awesome job, that they had the proper automotive for these circumstances.”
Ayao Komatsu, Group Principal, Haas F1 Group, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Group, Mark Slade, Race Engineer, Haas F1 Group
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
Haas was comfortably sixth earlier than that end result, with Nico Hulkenberg persevering with his season-long tempo and Kevin Magnussen gathering momentum, solely to overlook the weekend by sickness.
However following Ocon and Gasly’s performances within the treacherous circumstances, in addition to RB’s double factors end, the three groups are separated by simply 5 factors heading into the ultimate three rounds of the season.
“I believe I mentioned with eight races to go, a pleasant hole to Alpine, we simply must be on it each single occasion – that hasn’t been the case,” conceded Komatsu, whose staff is now seventh within the championship.
“In Austin, we dropped off on Sunday, [in Brazil] sure, the automotive will not be fast sufficient on intermediate tyres however operationally we must always have finished a lot a lot better.
Max Verstappen, Pink Bull Racing, 1st place, Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Group, 2nd place, Pierre Gasly, Alpine F1 Group, third place, Pierre Wache, Technical Director, Pink Bull Racing, on the rostrum
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
“From SQ, there was not a single session which was adequate so we’ve got to take a look at ourselves and say if we wish to be on the high of the midfield groups, we’ve got to enhance operationally.
“The constructive is when you take a look at our drivers, Ollie in SQ3, and not using a management field failure he ought to have been preventing for P6. So within the dry, we had the tempo however on the inters in moist circumstances, we did not have that a lot tempo. However nonetheless, we must always have come away with factors.
“I simply must encourage folks, so the final three races, we simply must be on it. Then hopefully, if they’re dry races, we must always be capable to rating factors.”
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