Alpine enjoys after: 'Monaco proves what we can achieve'

Otmar Szafnauer, Alpine's team boss is still enjoying the third place in Monaco. "It’s always a very special feeling when you achieve a podium in Formula 1. And there is no place more special than Monaco given its history and prestige, so for the team and Esteban to achieve that feat is just fantastic. I’m delighted for Esteban. He’s proven time and time again that he has the capability to deliver in high pressure circumstances and he really deserved this result after an inch perfect performance all weekend," the American told in a preview of his team.

Further validate updates Alpine

Although Monaco is a track with a unique layout, Alpine now knows that more is possible than competing for spot eight or nine. "We can all take great satisfaction in this result and it just demonstrates what we are capable of achieving. We’ve brought upgrades to the car in recent weeks, which are working very well, and we should have further validation of those updates in Spain this weekend on a more conventional Grand Prix circuit than the last two events in Miami and Monaco."

At the same time, Szafnauer says to be realistic. Further development of the car remains necessary, plus of course weekends where no unnecessary mistakes are made. Think of Melbourne, where Ocon and teammate Pierre Gasly tapped each other off the track. "What I would like to see is another solid weekend with a productive Friday programme where we can continue validating the upgrades as well as learning more about how to extract the maximum from our A523. It would be great to back up our performance from Monaco but we know Spain is a completely different challenge. It’s a new race weekend, a new opportunity and we will focus on our job day by day and see what we can achieve on Sunday afternoon."