BWT Alpine F1 Team previews the 2022 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix

BWT Alpine F1 Team previews the eleventh race weekend of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the Austrian Grand Prix.

Drivers Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso and Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer share their thoughts on the eleventh race of the season in Austria. 

Otmar Szafnauer: "After Silverstone, we've continued closing the gap to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship after Fernando's fifth in the race. Unfortunately, we weren't able to have both cars finish the race due to Esteban's retirement, which we now know was an electrical failure on the high-pressure fuel pump. Esteban was driving a great race and he recovered well from the lap one incident. The upgrades we introduced in Silverstone worked as expected and has given us a boost in on-track performance. Austria is the second Sprint event of the year and we'll have to dial ourselves in quickly with one practice session on Friday before Qualifying and I have every confidence that by Sunday we can come away with strong points. The weather can be unpredictable there and I think we have the ability to go well in Austria, rain or shine. It's the home race of our title partner BWT and we're equally looking forward to being with them over the race weekend and, hopefully, enjoying on-track success together!"

Esteban Ocon: "Getting to triple digits in F1 is an achievement any driver would be proud of. You can say it's a number that reflects consistency in the sport and shows I am an established driver with good experience. But not quite as much experience as my teammate, I know! My dream was always to get to Formula 1, so it will feel good to say that I have taken part in 100 races with many more to come. But the focus is to have a smooth weekend with a good result on Sunday after the personal disappointment of Silverstone. I'm excited to come back to another classic track. It's a very picturesque place to race cars with a relatively short lap compared to other tracks we go to."

Fernando Alonso: "Silverstone was a good result for us and I enjoyed battling near the front in the closing laps. We have to be happy with fifth. I think it was my best weekend so far in terms of our overall competitiveness and the result. I hope we can pick-up where we left off at Silverstone. It's a back to back so we have to keep up the energy levels. Luckily the races aren't too far apart so the travel isn't a huge factor on this double header. As the lap is short at the Red Bull Ring it's always very close and Qualifying is usually tight between a number of cars. One small error or loss of time can be the difference between Q2 and Q3. It's also a Sprint Qualifying weekend and I think the track will be quite good for this format because overtaking is possible there. I want to keep scoring points."

2022 Austrian Grand Prix Factfile: 

• Esteban Ocon is set to embark on his 100^th Grand Prix in Formula 1 this weekend.
• Fernando Alonso has now raced the most kilometres in Formula 1 history, having overtaken Kimi Räikkönen at last weekend's British Grand Prix (now 92,643km).
• Fernando's fifth position finish at Silverstone was his best of the season and takes him over 2,000 points in Formula 1 (now 2,008).
• Fernando has finished in the points in his last three visits to the Red Bull Ring
• This will be the 500th Grand Prix in which a Spanish driver has competed. Spain will become the ninth nation to reach this milestone.
• Reserve driver Oscar Piastri won the first Feature Race of the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship in Austria.
• Renault-powered cars have had four wins, 10 podiums, five poles and five fastest laps at the Red Bull Ring.