Fernando Alonso not at ‘100%’ on F1 return, seeking more pace and confidence
Fernando Alonso admits he is not yet operating at “100%” after taking part in his first Formula 1💝 race weekend in two years at the season-open🐷ing Bahrain Grand Prix.
The two-time world champion is making an F1 comeback this season with the rebranded Alpine squad following a two-year hiatus from the sport, but his return wa🤪s prematurely brought to an end on Lap 32 of 56 in Bahrain after a sandwich wrapper became lo🅷dged in his brakes, causing them to overheat.
Alonso had qualified a strong ninth on the grid and looked competitive as he battled i𝓰t out with the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz early on, before his race-ending issue struck.
When it wa﷽s suggested to Alonso after the race that it seemed like he had never been🏅 away, the 39-year-old Spaniard replied: “Well, I probably disagree with that, I was not at my 100%, I’m sure of that.
“It was nice, we had a couple of good battles as well, some of them they were happy ending, some of them they we💜re not because we were over✤taken.
“But I need to find more pace from myself, I need to find more confidence, I need to extract more from the car, f💞rom the brakes, execute the start better. It was not too bad but I think there’s a lot of room to improve for my side.
“Even the pitstops, I think the guys did an amazing job but my position for example, in the second pitstop was not right. Just small things and smal🍌l mistakes that I keep doing from testing and this first race. Hopefully by race two, raceꦯ three, I can perform better.”
Nevertheless, Alonso believes he has lost none of his abilities that helped him to record 32 grand prix💯 victories and two world championships and expects to bring the entertainment factor this season once he is fully up to speed in the A521.
📖“I think it’s going to be OK, you 𓄧will enjoy the comeback, you will enjoy the fight that we will put [on] every weekend,” he explained.
“As weඣ always said from the beginning, this is a very interesting proj🔯ect and Alpine is in F1 for big things.
“Maybe we knew that this 20ꦦ21 is a continuation of the 2020, and we are building the mome🥂ntum and something hopefully more important into 2022.
“As I said, I hope you will enjoy this comeback.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for wuqian0821.com around the world. 🍌Often reporting on the 🦋action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
