Weekend Recap: British GP

Our home race is always a special occasion, and this year it was even more memorable as we returned to Enstone on Monday with eight points in the bag following a sixth-place finish for Pierre in challenging conditions - courtesy of the notorious British weather. For the 168,000 fans who attended Silverstone on Sunday - including many of our team members who made the short trip from Enstone - it was an extraordinary race that will live long in the memory.

But before the action kicked off in Northamptonshire, we first paid a visit to the seat of power as our Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore joined other F1 executives at 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister. Marking the sport’s 75th anniversary, Flavio was accompanied by five of our young engineers and Alpine Academy driver Sukhmani Khera.

Confirmation of new hires

After making the short journey from London to Silverstone, we made a series of key announcements. First, we welcomed the return of Steve Nielsen to Enstone. Steve will join BWT Alpine Formula One Team as Managing Director on 1 September, overseeing the day-to-day running of the squad.

Steve has a long history with the team, having previously served as Sporting Director during our championship-winning years in 2005 and 2006. More recently, he has worked for the FIA and Formula One.

In addition, we announced two other senior hires: Kris Midgley as Head of Aerodynamic Development, and Guy Martin as Global Marketing Director. Away from the circuit, we also confirmed a new alliance between Franco and the team with Claró, Latin America's largest telecommunications company.

Going for a lap of the capital

Meanwhile, back in central London on Saturday morning, we hosted our first ever Run Club in association with Team Supplier MISSION - and it was a huge success. Over 100 fans and team members, kitted out in Alpine gear, joined us for a 7km run through the iconic landmarks of London. With such a fantastic turnout, we’re already looking ahead to future editions - and if you’d like to get involved, you can register your interest now.

Additionally, we also launched a special one-off collaboration with our investor Rory McIlroy and DP World Tour to offer one lucky fan the sports experience of a lifetime. The prize includes flights for two, tickets to the Italian Grand Prix, hospitality at the Amgen Irish Open and two nights in both Dublin and Milan - enter here.

There was more sporting greatness at Silverstone itself, where we welcomed skateboarding legend Tony Hawk to the paddock. Not only did he enjoy a hot lap with our Reserve Driver Paul Aron in an Alpine A110, he was also on site promoting his upcoming Xbox release, Pro Skater 3+4.

And our local farmer, named Jeremy, a big fan of ours, popped by for catch-up with Flavio and to offer some words of genius to the team ahead of what would turn out to be an extraordinary British Grand Prix.

Getting up to speed

On track, conditions at Silverstone began warm and sunny as FP1 got underway on Friday. Across the two sessions, the team completed 103 laps - Pierre ran 47 and Franco 56 - but both drivers admitted they struggled to get to grips with the A525’s behaviour around the high-speed sweeps of Silverstone plus with the unpredictable high gusts of wind.. Franco reported back to the engineers that the car felt stronger in some parts of the circuit than others.

Temperatures dropped on Saturday with more cloud cover, and there were even a few drizzly spells - but not enough to dampen the track. Unfortunately, Franco made a mistake while pushing hard in qualifying (Q1), running wide over the kerb at the final corner. The car spun over the gravel and lightly tapped the wall. Although he was able to emerge from the dust, the resulting vibrations were too severe, and he was forced to park the car at Abbey.

As a result of his last-place grid position, the team opted to change some power unit components under parc fermé conditions, meaning he would start from the pit lane. However, after the formation lap, he returned to the pits and suffered a driveline issue, which prevented him from taking the start.

Despite difficulties in the three practice sessions, Pierre delivered a superb performance in qualifying. With two brilliant final laps in Q1 and Q2, he progressed through to Q3 and ultimately qualified tenth - later promoted to eighth after grid penalties for two cars ahead.

Managing the changing conditions

Race day dawned with gloomy skies. It wasn’t long before the heavens opened and heavy rain hit the circuit during the morning. On the formation lap, most of the track appeared dry, but with so much water still in the final sector, we opted to start on intermediate tyres.

Pierre made a great getaway, gaining a place to move into fifth (Russell and Leclerc gambled for dry tyres after the formation lap) as the first of two Virtual Safety Cars was deployed, managing to pass both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. When the rain began falling more heavily - in scenes reminiscent of Brazil last year - we brought Pierre in on lap 11 for a fresh set of intermediates, just before the Safety Car was deployed. At that point, Pierre was running sixth - which became fifth when Max Verstappen spun at Stowe on the restart.

Pierre then became embroiled in a battle with Hamilton, while also fending off George Russell’s Mercedes. The timing of the crossover from intermediates to slicks was being carefully monitored by the pit wall, and we eventually called Pierre in on lap 41 for a set of fresh medium compound Pirellis. This stop ultimately cost him a position to the recovering Verstappen.

But on the final lap - just a few corners from the chequered flag - Pierre passed Lance Stroll down Hangar Straight and into Stowe to clinch an excellent sixth place. It was a deserved reward for a composed and mistake-free drive in incredibly difficult conditions.

“At the start of the weekend, no one would have imagined we’d be in a position to be fighting Fernando at the start of the race,” said Pierre. “All the calls were right, the strategy was great, the pit stops were very good - and we made the most out of the conditions. It is made even more sweet being at Silverstone with so many staff members in the grandstands.

“In the end, I'm just very proud of all the team because this year has been very tricky for everyone. We know the car isn’t where we want it to be, but we keep giving it everything and make the most of the opportunities when they come. I'm very proud of them and very happy.”