After failing to find the rhythm in the first free practice session of the weekend, including several run-offs, Alonso fine-tuned his A522 in the afternoon in hopes of resolving his final two concerns on Saturday.
After the last minute cancellation of the Grand Prix in 2020 due to COVID-19, just when the fans were preparing to populate the stands of the Australian track, Formula 1 has finally returned to the circuit of Albert Parka scenario that used to serve as the start of the season years ago and that has now been relegated to being just another appointment on the calendar.
Despite not being able to get the pole position, in 2006 Fernando Alonso achieved his tenth victory in the queen category of motorsport. Since then, the Spaniard has barely been on the podium in said test on a couple of occasions, in 2007 with McLaren and in 2013 with Ferrari, a goal that, although it seems unrealistic in 2022, does not hide the pace of the Alpine A522 in the early stages of the weekend.
details to be polished
“There were some minor things that they delayed us a bit in Free Practice 1but even so we managed to close a fairly normal day for us »acknowledged Alonso after trying the renewed Australian circuit first hand.
Own Alan PermaineAlpine’s sports director, assures that Albert Park has gone from being one of the bumpiest on the calendar to one that is much more ‘fluid’ with its recent resurfacing, a highly relevant detail considering that the pouring already in itself it makes the single-seaters bounce more than usual.
“There is work to be done, especially when it comes to extract the maximum from the soft tire on the first attempt for qualifying. We tried medium and hard with high fuel loads, and the race pace was in line with our simulations. Overtaking on Sunday will be difficult”, concluded Permane, contrary to the generalized theory that the changes in the layout will facilitate overtaking.
Important modifications
“It’s definitely great to be back in Melbourne,” continued Alonso, who backed up his boss’s doubts about overtaking. “Obviously I saw the circuit yesterday, but I think changes are positive and the return is, logically, much faster now. I’m not sure if there will be more overtaking on Sunday, we’ll see.”
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After Alpine confirmed that they already know what went wrong with Alonso’s car in Saudi Arabia, which is why the #14 has been forced to mount a practically new third power unit in its entirety in Australia, the Spaniard’s fourth place makes them optimistic for the time being.
“We put in a good mileage and collected a lot of information from both sessions. There are some balance problems that we have to solve, especially in the sessions with more fuel, “concluded Alonso, focused on what they can do in the last free practice session to solve these setbacks.