Solid start for the Alpine team in the 2022 Formula 1 season: At the Bahrain GP on the Sachir International Circuit, both Esteban Ocon finished seventh and Fernando Alonso finished ninth in the points. However, the good mood is somewhat spoiled by the A522’s major weakness.
“The tires were the biggest problem today, as we had predicted after the tests here last week,” Alonso struggles with the tire wear. “That’s why we decided on a three-stop strategy. Some other teams decided to stop two, but then the safety car came and they switched to three stops in the end.”
“So we never know which strategy was faster, two or three stops. But yeah, [wir hatten] a lot of tire degradation and it was the same for everyone. Maybe we had a bit more than the others, unfortunately. And that was probably our biggest concern.”
In fact, Alpine planned three pit stops for both drivers from the start. Alonso headed into his pits on laps eleven, 25 and 42. Ocon came in on laps 14, 30 and 43, so you knew you couldn’t make ends meet with two stops. Especially since Alpine already collected the relevant data during the winter tests.
Alpine is planning three stops in Bahrain from the start
Alonso also had his difficulties with the handling. “I think it was mainly the tires,” muses the two-time Formula 1 world champion. Apart from that, his opening conclusion for Alpine is positive: “We had a more or less competitive weekend and fought for Q3 and the top 10.”
“And it was both cars in the top 10. It was a difficult race. If it weren’t for Red Bull’s retirements and everything else, the points might have been difficult, but we’re still learning a lot about the car, the tyres, the breakdown and the Strategy.”
Alonso is also pleased that Alpine is the only team alongside Ferrari and Mercedes to have finished in the points with both cars. “We can be proud. And we have to be satisfied with today’s performance,” he says. “But we have to keep our feet on the ground and we know we have to improve a lot for next weekend.”
Fernando Alonso recalls his own past
Thanks to his wealth of experience, Alonso can’t be bothered. The Spaniard has experienced almost everything in his almost 20 years in the premier class. An example: “In 2012, I read yesterday that we qualified here in 12th place, I think 1.2 seconds from pole position.”
In fact, Alonso managed ninth place on the grid in 2012 – without setting a time in Q3. His time from the second section was exactly one second slower than Sebastian Vettel’s pole time. More important to him, however, is the message behind it.
“In the last race we were leading in the championship,” Alonso points out. “So the season is very long and you have to wait and see how the next few months develop.” In any case, Alpine knows where to start.