Fernando Alonso feels F1 2022 to be his strongest start in years even though he hasn’t scored the points, as Laurent Rossi share the frustrations.
Ninth place in Bahrain was a satisfactory start for Alpine’s Alonso and if anything is to go by, the massively experienced Spaniard has been consistently quick each time out but that ninth place and two points is all he has has to show for his efforts so far.
Last time out in Miami, a double penalty of five seconds each moved the Spaniard out of the points to go with bad luck at Jeddah and Imola. Five Grands Prix in, the luckless Spaniard is due a change in fortune positively and surely soon.
Despite the lack of luck on his side, Alonso feels it has been the strongest start to his season. “Obviously it feels a little bit strange to have two points in the championship after having probably my best start to the season in terms of competitiveness of the last 10 years, maybe from 2012,” he said.
“I was not as competitive as I felt in these first five races. So yeah, we’ve been, I think extremely unlucky with some of the events that happen. A very easy six in Saudi, obviously the problems in Melbourne with qualifying and then in the race, and then again, in lap one in Imola we were out of the race. So yeah, it’s a matter of time that the result will come”.
“I feel strong. I feel fast now. The car also feels good, so I’m really looking forward to each weekend. It has been good and bad so far, but over 23 races it compensates. So I think I get rid of all of the bad luck already,” summed up Alonso.
If Alonso’s assumptions are correct then he is in for a better remaining 18 races. They have the pace in both cars and one can’t forget their Hungarian GP exploits in 2021. More points are surely only a question of time and dare they dream of even greater exploits.
CEO Laurent Rossi concurs Alonso’s frustrations as he too feels his pain and strongly agrees that in a nutshell they have been unlucky. “We are as frustrated as he is,” he said. “I’m frustrated. He has only two points, I think, and it’s always been like… if you ask people they probably think he’s fourth in the championship because he’s always up there”.
“So, it’s been fairly unlucky. All of the glitches that we encountered, and/or problems on the track were almost constantly on this side. So hopefully, the tables are going to turn a bit and he’s going to show that, indeed he is in absolute brilliant shape,” summed up Rossi.
What Alonso, and Alpine need is a strong change in their fortunes. He has been consistent since lights out in Bahrain and it is recognized by the team and the rest of the grid. However, it’s home ground in Spain next up for the F1 fraternity and it will be a good place to turn his fortunes.
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