At the French Grand Prix, the Alpine team won the battle for the top midfield positions in Formula 1. The main rival McLaren loses fourth place in the constructors’ championship after places seven and ninth for Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
“It was very tough physically,” Norris says after the heated battle. “I still don’t use a water bottle in races because I get sick. I just can’t drink too much when I’m driving or I’ll throw up all over again.”
Asked about this curious anecdote in more detail, the Brit continues: “It hasn’t happened to me yet, but I know it would happen. That’s why I avoid it. But I’m prepared because I’m doing my training.”
Ricciardo: “We still have work to do”
Speaking about the race, he says: “Alpine are just faster at the moment. They made more mistakes over the season, which is why we were ahead. But now we’re behind, which is a more realistic picture.” The French are now 93-89 in the Constructors’ Championship.
“We are in this team duel with Alpine and unfortunately Alonso got Lando and Ocon got me,” said teammate Ricciardo after the race. “So we still have work to do.” The French team was able to score a lot of points at the home race. Fernando Alonso was sixth while teammate Esteban Ocon crossed the finish line in eighth.
“We just have to acknowledge that Alpine was faster today,” said McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl. Norris and Ricciardo each had the upper hand over Alonso and Ocon in qualifying, but the MCL36 was not good enough in the race.
Norris after a smashed start: Hasn’t changed anything anyway
“If you start further up, there’s always the chance of keeping a faster car behind you,” says Seidl. “Daniel was able to keep Esteban behind for a while, but in the end Alpine was just faster.”
The misery began for McLaren right at the start. Norris, who started the race from position five, lost two positions against George Russell and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard started from seventh place and was able to move up two places.
About Norris’ poor start, Seidl says: “We definitely have to look at that. The starts are generally less consistent than in the past and Lando had one of the worst so far today. But it’s frustrating because we were hoping for more after yesterday .”
Norris himself explains: “I had a bit of spinning wheels, but it didn’t affect my race any further. Fernando would have overtaken me sooner or later. So we got everything out of what was possible.”
Ricciardo honestly: Alpine too fast and I too slow
Ninth-placed Ricciardo and tenth-placed Ocon each gained a position at the start after Yuki Tsunoda was spun around by Ocon himself at the Mistral chicane, earning him a five-second time penalty.
In the end, the Australian finished where he started. “Of course I tried everything, him [Ocon] behind me, but they were just a little too fast and I was a little too slow,” explains Ricciardo.
“In the first part of the stint I was able to keep up, but in the second part they shifted up a gear and I just didn’t have that extra grip. As soon as I was fast one lap, I immediately lost the next. I don’t think so I was too aggressive with the tyres. I tried to manage them, but they just didn’t have the grip,” analyzes the McLaren driver.
Ricciardo on update: problems remain the same
After all, Ricciardo was able to keep up pretty well with his teammate Lando Norris during the race, which was different this season. “I wasn’t that fast on the medium, but then it was better on the hard tyres. I felt like I was going a little longer [Norris] could stay tuned,” he says when asked.
In the end he finished about eight seconds behind Norris. When asked if he feels more comfortable with the new McLaren update, Ricciardo says: “Honestly, it’s still the same car, just with a little more grip. But I think we still have something to do in the same areas Lap time missing.”
“So everything was looking good, but as the times got faster and you tried to push more, the tires didn’t feel good anymore. That put me on the defensive, although I would have preferred to keep attacking.”
Why was Norris better with the tires?
His teammate Norris seemed to be doing a little better with the Pirellis, but team boss Seidl wouldn’t say so: “I don’t think it’s a trend. [Daniel] just had more pressure with Esteban behind him. And that’s why the tires degrade a little more.”
“Tyre management was very difficult with these hot temperatures,” says Norris. “Especially when you know that you are driving a one-stop strategy, you have to protect the tires in the beginning.”