Sawt Falasteen - Alpine's shock Brazil double podium not on 'bingo card'

"Nobody would have put that down on their bingo card," said Gasly, who finished third behind second-placed Ocon as the team celebrated their first podium since Gasly finished third at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.

"I'm absolutely buzzing right now! I'm just so proud of the team. To overcome such a tough season. It would have been too easy to give up, but we never gave up and here we are. Both cars P2 and P3 and a lot of points for the team and everyone should be very proud.

"It's incredible for the whole team. We had such a tough season and we’ve struggled to score points. In these conditions, everything was possible.

"No-one believed it until the end. It’s just fantastic."

Ocon was delighted with his best result since his maiden win at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix and clearly enjoyed being race leader for several laps mid-race.

"What a day," he said. "After such a difficult season, it's really nice to be driving around here and having the performance a bit levelled out in the rain.

"The car was extremely difficult in the dry. I felt that ease when it started to rain this morning and last night I really wanted to get some laps in the rain."

The Alpine pair made the most of the treacherous mixed conditions and a well-executed strategy that saw both drivers make tyre-change pit-stops under red flag conditions.

Their success lifted them from ninth to sixth in the constructors championship ahead of rivals Haas and RB.

U.Shaheen--SF-PST