Fernando Alonso has been the protagonist of the first day of the Japanese GP by signing the best time in FP1. His partner Esteban Ocon has also felt quite comfortable with the Alpine A522 in the rain.
The forecasts were right the rain has been a traveling companion during the first day of the Japanese GP. Conditions in which the Alpine riders have moved like a fish to water. In fact, Fernando Alonso has finished with the best time in FP1 after signing his best time with an intermediate tire just before the precipitations were stronger.
The Asturian pilot has maintained a high level in FP2, a session in which he finished seventh with the Alpine A522. For his part, Esteban Ocon has also had a good pace from the first moments. The Frenchman was fourth in the first free practice and was in ninth place in the seconds. The sensations for both drivers have been similar with a car that works well in these conditions.
Fernando Alonso: “The car felt good in both sessions for us today”
At the end of the day, Fernando Alonso showed these good feelings, also remembering the local fans: «It’s been a good day for us and it’s great to be back at the Suzuka circuit.. Although the rain didn’t help our preparation, things went well. I felt sorry for the fans who stayed in the stands in this weather all day.”
«I always prefer dry weather, if I’m honest. The car has felt good in both sessions for us today. It was good to finish in front of the first free. I’m excited for tomorrow, we’ll see what we can do in potentially dry conditions» added the Asturian rider.
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The Alpine A522 responds
Stephen Ocon He was also quite positive, with feelings similar to those of his boxing partner: «As expected, today we had a wet track, but we rode more than we originally thought we were going to ride. The car has performed well in both sessions and we recorded some good data.”
«I made the most of the set of intermediate tires we had. It looks like we’ll have some dry action tomorrow so hopefully we can get a good qualifying for the team.”
An important FP3
From a more technical profile, Friday’s session in Japan has been less profitable than usual, as explained Pat Frytechnical director of Alpine: «The work has been quite restricted because we only wanted to use a set of intermediates and do a limited stint with extreme rain wheels to avoid damaging them».
However, Alpine has covered the file and Fry looks forward to tomorrow: «We did enough laps to get an idea of the balance of the car in these conditions. Tomorrow will be dry, so we will have a really busy final practice to do everything that would be done on Friday. We have to be prepared for all conditions.”
Photos: Alpine F1