Fernando Alonso is far more optimistic about the chances of Alpine to succeed with the rules changes in the 2022 F1 season.
While there is optimism from Alonso about Alpine for the 2022 F1 season, but the team did not set ablaze in either of the Barcelona and Bahrain tests. Even on lap count side, they were in the mid-pack as they went about understanding the car and new engine.
In Barcelona, it was noted that they did not run much using the DRS which was causing issues, but they did so in Bahrain. In both the tests, they did cause red flags but that is bound to happen in pre-season tests like these.
Alonso sees progress still and feels that Alpine is in good shape for now. “Obviously we had a strange first morning in Bahrain,” he said. “And we had some issues that we attacked in the afternoon, especially when I jumped in. So not the laps that we wanted.
“But yeah, we made some progress. The car felt better than Barcelona for sure. We brought some new things in Bahrain and hopefully more into the race one. Everyone is working flat out. And I’m happy, I’m optimistic that we will be much better in the next couple of days, and especially in race one.
“I think we had a good surprise on hot conditions side. I think the car is working well on high temperatures. We didn’t have any issues on all the cooling systems and brakes, and all the characteristics that Bahrain has different compared to Barcelona. So everything was running okay. And I think as I said we are more optimistic than maybe one week ago,” summed up Alonso.
It remains to be seen where Alpine ends up in reality, but as per predictions from several in the paddock, they are to feature in the lower mid-pack especially at the start of the 2022 F1 season. Alonso, though, is not stating much on how well the package is in that respect. All he is happy about for now is the commitment shown by the manufacturer.
“We don’t have any answers yet, I think we have to wait and see to understand how the first races develop and see what we need from the car and from the package,” started Alonso. “I am optimistic that the team is putting a huge effort into this programme, and we have the support from our president, and we have the support from everyone at Renault and Alpine, who came to F1 last year with an eye on this set of regulations to try to be a contender in the future.
“If that future will be 2022 or 2025 I have no idea, but there is this commitment and this view which I share and I embrace, that is for sure. Lets see, I think we are only testing, in Barcelona we completed a good number of laps, also in Bahrain and in Race 1, I think it is going to be a long game, that is for sure.
“The rate of development is going to be huge, and there are 23 (for now 22) races. I remember here last year I retired the car and Esteban was P12 or P13, so zero points after Bahrain. And then we won a race in Hungary, and we were enjoying the season from then on, so I think this year is going to be a long game to play, and I am confident that we will have a good season,” summed up Alonso.
Here’s the Bahrain F1 Test stats house
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