Fernando Alonso says there are still plenty of questions left to answer for the BWT Alpine F1 Team ahead of Saturday’s running at the Bahrain International Circuit, even though the Spaniard felt it was a good opening day for the team on Friday.
Alonso finished inside the top ten in both sessions, placing eighth in the afternoon despite completing only fourteen laps before improving to fifth in the evenings running, completing an additional twenty-four laps in the process.
The two-time World Champion said it was important Alpine adapted to the conditions in Bahrain, which were considerably cooler than they had been during pre-season testing just over a week ago, and they will look into how to further improve the car overnight before heading into Qualifying.
“It was a good day for us today and we completed our programme efficiently,” said Alonso. “It was a lot cooler today than last week at testing, so we tried to adapt to these different conditions and learn how the tyres work at these temperatures.
“Obviously some tweaks are still needed on the setup of the car. We’ll look at this all tonight and digest all of our information. There are many questions left for us to answer tomorrow, but I think overall it was a positive day for us.”
“The issue with the loose sidepod early in FP1 slightly delayed our run plan” – Esteban Ocon
Team-mate Esteban Ocon caused the first red flag of the season when part of his sidepod broke away from the car, but the Frenchman was pleased with his day in Bahrain.
The left side sidepod came off the car as he was travelling down the start/finish straight after only eight minutes of the session, but it was not long until he was back on track. He completed fifteen laps on Friday afternoon before adding another twenty-five in the evening session.
He ended up twelfth fastest in both sessions, but he knows everyone’s true pace will only be seen during Saturday evening’s Qualifying session under the floodlights in Bahrain.
“It was the first proper Friday of the year, where we really got to see all the other cars on track,” said Ocon. “From what we have seen today, it looks very tight in the midfield and for us it was another day of learning and working through our programme.
“The issue with the loose sidepod early in FP1 slightly delayed our run plan but was quickly addressed. Despite that, it was a solid day for the team on track as we keep learning more and more about this new car.
“Tomorrow, we’ll really see everyone’s true pace and I’m looking forward to giving it my best in Qualifying.”
Esteban Ocon ended twelfth in both Friday sessions in Bahrain – Credit: BWT Alpine F1 Team