After Esteban Ocon- Pierre Gasly’s Costly Crash, Otmar Szafnauer Gives Update on Rumors of Losing Upgrades Planned for Baku

We have counted the hours and days for the Azerbaijan GP to arrive as F1 went into a month-long spring break. While the wait is finally over, the thrill that the turns of Albert Park provide still gives us chills. Three restarts and three red flags were already a record in itself. And if we talk about almost unprecedented occurrences, Alpine saw a complete wipeout. And the team TP has now come forward to give an update about the same.

Lap 57 saw an incident that may have laid the foundation for a civil war that was already brewing on the horizon. A restart saw Pierre Gasly overcook some parts of his car and take out his teammate Esteban Ocon with him. The sheer chaos that unfolded at that second restart may have had teams burn the midnight oil considering the magnitude of damage. But the Enstone-based outfit perhaps was a step ahead.

Talking to F1 Nation Podcast, the team TP Otmar said, “As soon as the accident happened the entire operations here at Enstone got together and didn’t wait for a report of ‘you know this is damaged that’s damaged we have to replace the suspension–or a nose or the front wing’ they could kinda see what happened in the straightaway and got on to diverting some of the manufacturing resource into making further spares but without losing the upgrades that are planned for Baku And that is a tremendous effort by everybody.”

Read More: “This Thing Is Getting Beyond Coincidence”: Lewis Hamilton’s Thirst Trap Strikes Again as Max Verstappen’s First TP Bizarrely Retires to Shock the Fans

While all may seem well at the French team, another sword that sliced through Red Bull’s overreach may come after Alpine.

Cost cap haunts Alpine in the aftermath of Pierre Gasly’s accident

Budget is the biggest headache for the teams that have been used to spending with free hands. While it puts a full stop to extra developmental strides, the unforeseen damages put a dent in the team’s financial limits.

He was quoted by RacingNews365.com as saying, “From the point of view of the budget limit, I think we’re going to be fine, from everything I know. I don’t think there is any concern. It will be expensive, it probably would have been a lot less expensive if it hadn’t happened.” [translated via Google Translate]

Watch This Story: When Rap Legend Kanye West Preached to Heavily Criticized Lewis Hamilton “Not to Give a F**k…”

Do you think Australia will prove to be a costly mistake in the aspirations of the reigning champions of the midfield?