At the end of the last pre-season test sessions in Bahrain, theAlpine it stood out for some pretty positive performances from both of its drivers, Estaban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. While the Frenchman had set the best time on Friday morning, the Spaniard had particularly convinced on the last day of testing, highlighting the qualities of a car that had instead encountered problems and raised concerns in the previous tests in Barcelona. Now, with the first GP of the season upon us, the performance of theA522 they handed down the right charge to the team, starting with the recent statements by Sporting Director Alan Permane.
Despite this, the first to invite calm is the CEO of the French company, Laurent Rossi. According to the transalpine manager, interviewed by F1TVthe team still has to work in order to improve the world championship placements achieved in the last three seasons – including the years in which the team was known as Renault – in order to go beyond the 5th place: “In Barcelona we rode without DRS, only with hard C2 tires and without full power – commented – in Bahrain we could not get full power because of the new engine, which we are learning step by step. It looks good at the moment, but we don’t have the full picture yet. We had a bit of a difficult day on Thursday due to a problem with the radiator, losing two hours of testing. But then we got back on track, expressing good speed. Consequently, I wouldn’t say we’re incredibly competitive, but I don’t even think anyone is showing all their cards. However, I am sure that we are competitive, which is good“.
In conclusion, Rossi focused on the learning process of power unit: “In the first place – has explained – we need to make sure this engine does what we expect, and then configure it in terms of delivery. The goal is twofold: we have to map the operating areas of the turbo and the new supercharger, since the turbo is separate and therefore has a different geometry. Next, we need to map the electrical power deployment on the track. This is an important element, and we are learning it over time. Not an evolution of last year’s, but a revolution“.
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