AlphaTauri rue Alpine 'luck' after missing out on record season

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost was left to rue the 'luck' experienced by Alpine after the French manufacturer pipped his team to fifth in the constructors' standings.

Pierre Gasly almost single-handedly steered the Faenza-based team to its first top-five finish in F1 in either of its previous guises, only for a late-in-the-season Fernando Alonso podium to take those aspirations away.

Alpine also took a shock victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix as Esteban Ocon dodged his way through a chaotic opening to the race before holding off Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin for his maiden victory.

With only 13 points separating the two teams at the end of the season, Tost believes Alpine got lucky but also conceded his team must work harder in the future.

Asked by GPFans if the result was slightly disappointing when reflecting on the season, Tost replied: "Of course, fifth-place would be better, but I must say, the team improved a lot during this season and we had some good races and some others where we didn't score the points, which we thought we will do.

"I must say that Alpine was, two times, really lucky in Budapest with the victory. Also, in Qatar a little bit, but nevertheless, they did a very good job.

"They scored the points, and therefore, they're ahead of us, which means that we have to work harder to improve and to become better. [We] must have targets for the future."

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