On paper, if one looked only at the result, Alpine could leave Canada with a big smile on the faces of all the team members, given the first double top ten of the season which allowed them to gain three precious points in terms of the world rankings . However, in fact, it is only a feeling on paper, because even in Montreal there was no shortage of reasons for discussion between the two drivers, especially with what happened in the final laps of the Grand Prix.
Curiously, Canada’s situation is vaguely reminiscent of what happened last year at Suzuka, when a team order created controversy. If in that case, however, Pierre Gasly returned the non-place to Esteban Ocon, in this case what created a reason for conflict between the two drivers was the fact that at the end there was no further exchange of positions between the two.
To understand exactly what happened, however, it is important to take a step back, to be precise around the fortieth lap, when Gasly was one of the first to attempt the switch to slicks. At that moment, the Frenchman was in fourteenth place, or four positions behind his teammate Ocon, with a gap of around four seconds. The choice to stop for the hard didn’t pay off immediately, partly because clearly the track wasn’t completely dry yet, partly because the hard still needed a few laps to warm up.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
In fact, after the waltz of pit stops Gasly remained in fourteenth place, with a gamble that didn’t pay off in terms of the positions gained. However, the entry of the Safety Car due to the accident between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon once again brought the group together, giving among other things the opportunity for the Frenchman to move up to eleventh position, thanks to the retirements of the two drivers involved in the contact and of Sergio Perez, who ended up alone in the barriers after a spin.
Ocon fights for points despite problems
With about ten laps to go, therefore, the situation saw Ocon in ninth place, ahead of Ricciardo and Gasly himself. Ocon was immediately astute in exploiting a mistake by Yuki Tsunoda in turn ten, thus moving up to eighth position, which clearly exposed him to pressure from both Racing Bulls, among other things without being able to rely on DRS. Added to this was another element, namely the fact that Ocon at that point in the race was also suffering from problems with the hybrid part, with a clear derating (a cut in electric power) on the straights.
Looking at the data, there were moments in which the Frenchman lost around 20 km/h of speed at the end of the long straight, not to mention the fact that the drop in power was also felt in the sprints of the second sector , albeit in a much less marked way, a factor that allowed the situation to be managed better. During the 65th lap, i.e. five laps from the checkered flag, Ocon himself had reported via radio how that derating phenomenon was extremely marked, even trying to use the overtake button, i.e. that mode which allows you to have use more electrical energy to defend or attack. Precisely for this reason the derating values did not remain stable at the end, varying depending on whether the electric overboost was used or not.
Alpine Canada Telemetry – Ocon Derating Issues
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
Another mistake by Tsunoda at the eight-nine chicane put the Japanese out of contention, leaving Ricciardo with the task of attempting to attack the Frenchman, with an overtaking move with 3 laps to go. At that point, Alpine started to think about how to proceed: it was clear that, given the major derating problems, it would be difficult for Ocon to recover the lost position, which is why the team imposed a team order on him . The idea was to let Gasly pass ahead, with the hope that he could use the DRS to attempt an attack on Ricciardo.
The decision to swap positions
However, more than one lap passed between the moment of the request and the moment in which the exchange of positions took place, thanks to Ocon’s initial refusal to let his teammate pass. Ocon himself had in fact also asked if, if Gasly had not managed to overtake the Australian from Racing Bulls, there would have been a new exchange of positions, thus recovering ninth place, but without receiving a concrete response from the team. As indicated, Ocon actually let Gasly pass on lap 69, but that extra session spent arguing over the radio had allowed Ricciardo to build a safety margin that would surely protect him until the finish line.
“The problem is that in the meantime we made the decision, Ricciardo moved away making it impossible to use the DRS. At that point, when he swapped cars with two laps to go, he was too far away. If the exchange had happened earlier, I potentially would have been in the DRS area and would have had a few more chances. But honestly, it’s not a big deal,” Gasly said after the race.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
“I think, however, that today we did excellent team work. We tried different things with the tyres, like at the beginning with the intermediate and the switch to the slick. It was a very positive day for the whole team, and getting three points could be very valuable at the end of the year.”
However, with only one lap still to go, a further problem arose, namely the comeback of the two Haas cars behind the two A524s. Tsunoda’s spin had in fact slowed down Nico Hulkenberg, separating the German by about two seconds from Gasly: however, taking advantage of the indecision in the Alpine team at the moment of exchanging positions, the Haas rider managed to get closer and reach the DRS area. Also for this reason, given the real threat of being able to lose points against a direct rival in the constructors’ standings, the French team has decided not to reverse the positions between the drivers again, leaving Gasly in ninth place and Ocon in tenth with the possibility of use DRS to defend yourself.
As expected, Ocon did not welcome the team’s choice to keep the order unchanged at the end, also because the transalpine had been the author of an excellent race given the problems with the Power Unit suffered in the final part of the race. After the race, however, there was a meeting between the team and the driver, with which they tried to clarify the situation, even at the dawn of the statements made by Ocon at the end of the Grand Prix in which he underlined that the team had not did his part by restoring his position.
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