French Flair in Brazil: flashback to our double podium last year

It was a moment many of us at Enstone and Viry won’t forget: both BWT Alpine Formula One Team drivers, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, standing tall on the podium at last year’s São Paulo Grand Prix. Twelve months ago, both drivers didn’t put a wheel out of place in a race littered with incidents. When the rain falls in Brazil, it’s usually intense, and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace is often treacherous in those monsoon-like conditions. In fact, it was so bad on the Saturday of last year’s race that qualifying was cancelled and held on Sunday morning.

Pierre had already shown good pace at Interlagos earlier in the weekend. He qualified seventh for the Sprint and held that position to the flag in the shorter format race on Saturday morning. It was an extremely early start on Sunday, with qualifying taking place at 7:30am local time and the Grand Prix brought forward to avoid the worst of the weather.

But with multiple red-flag stoppages in the rain, qualifying became a challenge just to keep the car on the road. On the slippery track, ‘Oconzinho’ delivered a superb lap to line up on the second row - our best grid placing of the season at that point. Meanwhile, Pierre struggled to post a representative time and lined up for the race in 13th.

Despite this setback, Pierre made a brilliant start, climbing four places by the end of the first green-flag lap, and had risen to sixth when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed. Esteban also made a strong start, running in fourth through the opening laps. As conditions worsened, he executed a brilliant pass for third and opted not to pit under the VSC. Both drivers continued on worn intermediates while rivals pitted. When the race was neutralised, first by a Safety Car, then by a red flag, Esteban was in the lead with Pierre in third.

On the restart, Esteban led for a total of 14 laps (from 29 to 42) before settling into second place, with Pierre close behind, having risen ten places from his starting spot. On a day when many drivers faltered, spun out or hit the barriers, the French duo drove with precision, securing a vital 35 points for the team and finishing the race within three seconds of each other. It was a magnificent achievement and the whole crew rushed to parc fermé to celebrate with both drivers.

“This result means so much for the whole team. In these conditions, anything was possible, and we believed right until the end,” said Pierre. “We’ve all tried to push the team forward, to never give up, and today it paid off. That’s what I love about Formula 1. It’s truly a historic day and I’m very proud of everyone who contributed to making this performance happen.”

The double podium was the first since Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean secured second and third at the 2013 Korean Grand Prix. It was also the first time two French team-mates shared a podium racing for a French manufacturer since Alain Prost and René Arnoux finished 1-2 for Renault at the 1982 French Grand Prix.