After experiencing a first Grand Prix of 2022 in which excessive degradation gave him nightmares, Fernando Alonso will contest the second race weekend of the year with a new combustion engine due to a new failure.
The start of the 2022 season was bittersweet for Fernando Alonso: even though the two-time Spanish champion could sneak into Q3 while his teammate was 11th on the old pontoons after his new unit disintegrated in free practice, Sunday was another matter.
None of the Pirelli compounds allowed the #14 to print the constant pace that characterizes it in long runs beyond the initial 5 laps of each tire, thus accusing a excessive wear which quickly sent him to the back of the grid and prevented him from having any on-track battle with his rivals in the first race.
From bad to worse
Still not sure if this massive degradation problem will accompany him in Jeddah, Alonso has suffered another setback even before getting into his car: the internal combustion engine of his only engine used to date is defective.
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“After the Bahrain Grand Prix we identified a possible sealing problem in the power unit of Fernando’s car. As a precaution, the internal combustion engine has been changed for the Saudi Arabian GP and the Bahrain unit has been sent back to Viry for analysis.
As it is only the second unit of the season, this change will not entail a sanction for the Asturian, who will be able to test his Alpine A522 once again with the firm intention of putting aside this leak in one of the engine seals, at least for now.
Although it is true that the French team has confirmed that they intend to use said central component of its power unit later in the season, this only complicates the premiere of a single-seater governed by a revolutionary regulationwaiting to see first-hand how far they can go once the first significant updates of the car with which they aspire to climb to the top of the table arrive in Miami.
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Esteban Ocon’s car “has not been affected at all” due to this mechanical failure, so Alpine will have less material to analyze in its factory. However, this makes them somewhat optimistic, trusting that it is a one-off problem in a single damaged power unit at the start of the season.