El Plan to El Pain? Fernando Alonso Suffers Early Problems at Bahrain Pre-Season Testing

The first day of Bahrain pre-season testing concluded and all F1 teams gathered a lot of data to improve their cars ahead of the season opener in Bahrain. Alpine was one of those teams that had a lot of improvements to make, as Fernando Alonso might have run into some power unit trouble after the testing.

Renault is one of the well-known names in Formula One. But after the failure in the past few seasons, the French constructor had a fresh start in F1 with a rebranding to Alpine F1. Further, the French F1 team got their former driver Fernando Alonso on board for the 2021 season.

The Spaniard has lifted two World Championships in 2005 and 2006, which were also the glory days of the French constructor. However, Alonso left the sport after the 2019 season and made a comeback in 2021 with Alpine.

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Alonso took the 2022 challenger, Alpine A522 for the first day of the pre-season testing at Bahrain. The two-time World Champion finished 24 laps with the fastest lap of 1:36.745. However, later on, we could see the mechanics working on the right side of the power unit as soon as Alonso returned to the Alpine stables after testing.

There are speculations that this is not a great sign for Alpine; they might have run into some serious trouble. Even at the Barcelona pre-season testing, which took place during February, Alonso had to prematurely retire from the testing because of the fiery engine.

Fernando Alonso claims others are better prepared

During an interview with Forbes, the 40-year-old expressed how he believes that the new rules and regulations might help the team this season. But he also believes that Alpine still has a long way to ahead. Fernando Alonso reported, “With the new regulations there are always a lot of things to test and adjust.”

“I think we have made progress, the truth is that other teams seemed to be more prepared, they went out from the beginning, they got the time super easy, they did long runs.” The Spaniard further added to his statement, “We started more slowly. At the end of the day I was happy, but I think there were other teams a little bit smarter than us.”

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The two-time world champion showcased some outstanding performance last season with a young F1 team like Alpine. Fans should only expect more from the Spaniard this season. Therefore, they should keep an eye on Alonso at the pre-season testing and the upcoming season opener in Bahrain.