Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer praised Fernando Alonso’s qualifying performance yesterday: in difficult conditions with changeable weather, the two-time world champion set the second fastest time, losing only to Max Verstappen.
This is also Alonso’s best qualifying result since 2013: in Brazil, the Spaniard started from third place in Brazil, then still for Ferrari.
“It was the best qualifying since I’ve been with Alpine and it went really well,” Safnauer told Sky Sports. – We were able to drive a decent pace in Baku and we continue to work with the car, so in Canada we were also fast from the start of the weekend. But Fernando, of course, showed a lot of skill and applied all his experience, which allowed us to break through to the front row.
He always has the ability to adapt very quickly, this is his strongest point, so he is immediately ready to show the right pace, and when the fight is on track in difficult conditions, this ability to adapt quickly very convenient to fit.
It shows once again that experience is sometimes more important than the enthusiasm of young people. The older we get, the more we enjoy talking about it!
I don’t know if you noticed or not, but we deliberately waited a long time (for the track to dry), both our cars were in the pits, as we planned to let both drivers loose on the track as late as possible .
This tactic turned out to be quite effective: Alonso starts from second position, his teammate Esteban Ocon – from 7th. But judging by the predictions, the race will be held on a dry track and Safnauer believes his players will also be quite capable of fighting for good results in normal weather.
“During training on a dry track, the car made a good impression. Both riders rode a long series of circles on hard tires, so we have enough information, confirms the sports director. – So I hope we are well prepared for the Grand Prix. There are some points regarding the settings that can be adjusted, and we will do it, but there are also factors that cannot be influenced. Overall, though, I’d call the situation pretty balanced.”
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
