Alpine team boss: 'Both drivers thought Australia crash was their fault'

Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed that Alpine's upgrades in Baku will still take place as planned. In the F1 Nation Podcast, the Alpine team boss explains how the team reacted to the crash of both drivers in Australia and how that threatened to disrupt plans.

The chaotic final phase of the Australian Grand Prix saw four drivers retire, including both Alpine drivers. Pierre Gasly overshot at the first corner, and in his attempt to get back on track he lost control of the car and collided with his teammate.

"They're both a bit contrite," Szafnauer reflected on the crash. "Both of them at the beginning thought maybe that's my fault, maybe that's my fault. So when that happens, when you have 50-50, then you kind of know that they didn't see it coming. Both of them were, 'Had I not gone off, this wouldn't have happened, had I not tried to go by him this wouldn't have happened.' It was a racing incident. These things happen."

Alpine remains on track with upgrades

The crash threatened to throw a spanner in the works for Alpine, which had plans to bring upgrades to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Indeed, the crash caused many parts to be repaired and replaced.

"As soon as the accident happened, the entire operations here at Enstone got together," Szafnauer explained. "They didn't wait for a report, they kind of saw what happened and straight away got out to diverting some of the manufacturing resources into making further spares, but without losing the upgrade that was planned for Baku. And that is a tremendous effort by everybody here. So we will be going to Baku with the planned upgrade. And for probably an hour or two before everyone got together it was unsure because you definitely have to remake spares as a priority over the upgrade."