The first day of training at the renovated Yas Marina has left the Alpine in the upper zone of the classification, with Esteban Ocon in second place and Fernando Alonso in sixth.
Alpine today rode the redesigned Yas Marina circuit on the last Friday of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship, that of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon finished in second place on Friday with Fernando Alonso sixth in a day in which lap times were up to 13 seconds faster than in 2020.
For the first training session, Alonso and Ocon completed The plan, as shown on the rear wings of his A521s, using the soft tires and finishing sixth and 11th, with Alonso’s time, 1: 25.625, just six tenths of the fastest time recorded by Max Verstappen.
“My fastest time was eliminated in FP2, so we actually have a bit more.”
Dusk fell over Abu Dhabi for the second session and both drivers of Alpine They found that the circuit had greatly improved its conditions. The pair started on the medium tires before switching to the soft ones. Ocon and Alonso settled in the top six for much of the session, and the Frenchman briefly topped the timesheets in his run on soft tires.
Already with the checkered flag waved, the lap time of Ocon, 1: 24.034, it was enough to finish second. Alonso, for his part, finished in sixth place with a time of 1: 24.495, although his best time (two tenths faster) was eliminated for exceeding the track limits at the exit of Turn 16.
Esteban Ocon
“It was quite a productive Friday to learn the new Abu Dhabi layout, which turned out to be quite challenging in many respects. I had a slip in FP1 similar to Kimi (Räikkönen) in FP2, so you have to be careful when pushing the limits there ».
“Some of the new parts are quite difficult so it is important to keep improving on these corners. Some of the areas of the track with new asphalt are interesting and learning the changes will be important to understand how the tires behave. “.
“So far both cars are in the top ten, which is not bad and that is the target for tomorrow. It always feels good to be in the highest positions and today we finished in second place. However, we will be realistic and continue our hard work.
- Free practice 1: P11, 1: 26.025, 25 laps
- Free practice 2: P2, 1: 24.034 29 laps
Fernando Alonso
“It was a good Friday for us and I liked the changes on the track. It’s the third weekend in a row that we discovered a new circuit on Friday, so it means we can play around with the circuit a bit and try different lines to find the lap time ».
“We maximized our time on the track today in both sessions and my fastest time was eliminated in FP2, so we actually have a little more than what was shown in the end times ».
- Free practice 1: P6, 1: 25.625 26 laps
- Free practice 2: P6, 1: 24.495 27 laps