On the occasion of the inaugural race of the season in Bahrain, Fernando Alonso finished in ninth place, two places behind his Alpine mate Esteban Ocon, thanks to a wrong strategy and engine problems.
Last weekend in Jeddah the French team’s two single-seaters fought hard for sixth position in the early stages of the race, but the final result for the two-time world champion was disappointing. While Alonso was forced to retire, Esteban Ocon managed to finish in sixth position ahead of Lando Norris’ McLaren.
In Saudi Arabia, Alpine managed to stay ahead of Alfa Romeo and Haas, unlike what was seen in Bahrain, and this signal was considered encouraging by Alonso.
“I think I have had two great races even if conditioned by bad luck. In Bahrain we were penalized by a less than optimal strategy and an engine that did not work perfectly, while in Jeddah I was really fast in qualifying, but those who took to the track with used tires achieved better times than those who preferred to choose the new compound “.
“I think last weekend we returned to our natural position, fifth and sixth. However, it is disappointing to have closed with a retirement and to find myself in the standings with only two points after two really solid weekends ”.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Alonso then stated that he hoped that the bad luck that hit the Alpine at this start of the season, and allowed the direct rivals to get heavy points, could look elsewhere in the future.
“The pace shown looks better than the results we got. In any case, we gave points to whoever is behind us. The path, however, is long and luck will turn our way all over again ”.
“I am happy with the performances shown, but as I said we have lost too many points. Without these problems I could have been in sixth or seventh position in the championship. We weren’t able to maximize the potential ”.
The Spaniard then admitted that at the moment it is still too early to indicate whether Alpine can be considered the third force in the championship.
“I do not know. Alfa Romeo appears to be a bit faster on some tracks, while the Haas was really fast in Bahrain. Russell also did well in Jeddah but his performance wasn’t great. We are in this group and it’s up to us to make progress ”.
“Without all the problems we have accused up to now, we could have gotten a better number of points. As I said, the road is still long but at the moment I feel really fast on the track ”.
Despite having seen the checkered flag in Bahrain, a new V6 as well as a new turbo, MGU-H, MGU-K and a new exhaust were mounted on Alonso’s Alpine at the Jeddah GP. The retirement suffered last Sunday raised concerns within the French team, but Alonso said he was satisfied with the performance of the Renault power unit.
“I think at the moment we are in line with the others. In both Jeddah and Bahrain we were able to fight on the straights. Unfortunately, now we have to investigate to understand what happened to the engine in the first two races of the year and avoid repeating these problems ”.
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