The Latest Breaking News from Alpine

At the start of the 60-minute session, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries set the first-place benchmark at 1m17.918s during the opening laps using the prototype compound construction set to become standard across Pirelli’s range from the upcoming British GP, which several other runners sampled early on too.

Esteban Ocon started and finished third in the principality, while Gasly took seventh despite being frustrated by making a stop for dry tyres shortly before the rain came.

Esteban Ocon started and finished third in the principality, while Gasly took seventh despite being frustrated by making a stop for dry tyres shortly before the rain came.

This season has seen Red Bull dominate the front of the field and there is little to suggest things will be different when F1 heads to Barcelona, a place that usually rewards the best cars more than most.

Last weekend the team had its best weekend of the year as Esteban Ocon qualified third and Pierre Gasly seventh, and subsequently finished in the same positions.

Last weekend the team had its best weekend of the year as Esteban Ocon qualified third and Pierre Gasly seventh, and subsequently finished in the same positions.

After Esteban Ocon finished third at the Monaco Grand Prix, Jeremy Clarkson has said he owes the Alpine team "many" beers after vowing to buy them all a pint if he finished on the podium

And while the big-ticket items, such as the sidepods and front suspension, were obvious talking points, there were also some interesting detail changes that emerged too.  

Christened the Alpine A110 R Le Mans, the Oreca LMP2-based hybrid contender will be revealed on 7 June at the Circuit de la Sarthe ahead of the centenary edition of the French endurance classic.

The aforementioned timing is relevant because the result came just a few weeks after Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi surprised the paddock with strong criticism of his own team in a French TV interview, saying the team's performance was "unacceptable" and at times "amateurish".

After the Emilia Romagna GP was cancelled due to flooding in the region, the Monaco GP welcomed F1 from another mini break with a dramatic race weekend full of talking points.