Alonso disappointing at home Grand Prix
The two-time Spanish world champion is struggling to find his rhythm. This was illustrated by a disappointing seventeenth-place finish in the Barcelona race.
It is necessary to give a minimum amount of time to a driver returning to the premier category. However, when you are a driver of Fernando Alonso’s caliber, a two-time Formula 1 World Champion and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the expectation of performance is constant.
Especially when he participates in his national Grand Prix, being a true icon in Spain. The weekend in Barcelona hadn’t started so badly for Alonso, who managed to reach Q3 for the second time this season, placing himself in 10th position on the starting grid. But his teammate Esteban Ocon still managed to qualify in 5th position!
During the race, Fernando Alonso missed his strategy with the medium tires. He was forced to go through the pits for a second time to switch to the softs. The Asturian Bull eventually finished in seventeenth position in his home Grand Prix, far behind his teammate’s ninth place.
In the first four races of the season, Alonso never finished ahead of Esteban Ocon in the race. He only finishes ahead of the Frenchman once in qualifying, during the first Grand Prix in Bahrain.
But the margin is not huge in the drivers’ standings: twelth, Alonso is 5 points behind his teammate.
Despite the mixed results, the Spanish driver still sees some positives after this Spanish Grand Prix, confident in the car’s capabilities and not seeming to question his performance as he did on Sunday evening in the paddock after the race.
We don’t end up where we wanted, but I think the weekend was positive overall. The car was performing well and we are definitely heading in the right direction. We were fast in Portugal, but we didn’t know if it was related to the track.
Our progress shows that we are well placed. We have experienced some entertaining battles and I have enjoyed myself, but we simply couldn’t reach the finish line on mediums. We had to try something different and it didn’t work out. We will try our luck again in Monaco!
« The car was performing well, and we are clearly heading in the right direction »
Indeed Alpine showed good things this weekend, gradually evolving to stand out in this highly competitive midfield, currently dominated by McLaren and Ferrari, in the battle for third place in the constructors’ championship.
