Fernando Alonso's Alpine was like a rocket on the straights. However, the Spaniard only finished tenth. Considering the potential and strong performance during Friday's free practice, this seems like a setback.
Fernando Alonso's Alpine was like a rocket on the straights. However, the Spaniard only finished tenth. Considering the potential and strong performance during Friday's free practice, this seems like a setback.
Still, Alonso believes that the Alpine's potential was maximized. More was simply not possible today, and his team came within two or three tenths of being the first challenger to Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. All in all, Alonso was therefore moderately satisfied.
"I have mixed feelings," he told Soyo Engine afterwards. "Yesterday we were quite fast and from today we expected something more. But on Saturday we had more competition. We didn't have those few tenths to make the difference."
Alex Albon complained over the radio that Alonso drove too slow during Q1. By doing so, he would have ruined Albon's lap. The Spaniard rebutted the criticism: "If they had left a minute earlier, they would have passed in front of me. Q1 was chaos. I used tires, maybe he was faster. And I made a mistake at turn 15.