Marc Priestley spotted ‘very difficult’ problem at Alpine during factory visit before Sao Paulo double-podium

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Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes knew he had a job on his hands when he replaced Bruno Famin earlier this season.

The French manufacturer were battling with Williams to avoid finishing ninth in the Constructors’ Championship this year.

Ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Alpine were losing that fight but weren’t quite looking over their shoulders at the pointless Sauber outfit.

Pierre Gasly gave Alpine hope that their latest set of upgrades had helped them take a step forward when he scored the final point of the race in Mexico City.

He improved on that result again during the Sprint Race on Saturday after starring in qualifying, converting his P7 start into a P7 finish.

Then, arguably the greatest race in Alpine’s history since their rebrand took place in torrential rain on Sunday afternoon at Interlagos.

Gasly and Esteban Ocon secured an incredible two-three finish behind Max Verstappen after avoiding making any mistakes during the race and nailing their strategy.

Marc Priestley was speaking on his YouTube channel about Alpine after a visit to their factory in Enstone.

Flavio Briatore was calculating how much money Alpine potentially made from an unbelievable performance and Priestley has shared the ‘very difficult’ problem the team have been facing that will be slightly alleviated by events in Brazil.

Marc Priestley shares details of Alpine factory visit before Brazilian Grand Prix podiums

Talking about the French team, Priestley said: “I’ve got to say a big shout-out to Alpine.

“I was actually there at the factory this week and seeing how difficult things have been for Alpine over recent times.

“So many different struggles and different challenges that they’ve faced trying to keep people motivated back at base and within that race team has been very difficult.

READ MORE: Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

“Today will be one of the biggest buzzes that those people in that team will ever get, amazing scenes.

“So, very happy for all of those people, everybody at the track but also back at base up at Enstone as well, so really well done to them.”

Jolyon Palmer reserves special praise for Esteban Ocon after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Gasly and Ocon will part ways at the end of the season, with Jack Doohan making his F1 debut in place of Ocon.

The 28-year-old is heading to Haas to drive alongside Oliver Bearman and will be encouraged by the progress his new team has made.

READ MORE: Alpine driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Haas have been on top of Alpine all season and appeared to have taken considerable steps forward with every new upgrade added to the car.

However, Alpine have now leapfrogged them in the standings with one extraordinary result that nobody saw coming.

Jolyon Palmer named Ocon his driver of the day despite Verstappen’s imperious victory.

It’s hard to argue with his logic considering the car Ocon was driving and how at one point in the race he was pulling away from the Dutchman before the final safety car.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t add to his only F1 victory so far which came in Hungary in 2021.

However, both drivers proved that with the right car and in the right conditions, they’re simply world-class and that will give those working at the factory plenty to celebrate, especially with Gasly staying with the team for 2025 and beyond.