Fernando Alonso Confirms Huge News for Alpine Amid “Angry” Portimao F1 Grand Prix Charge

The 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix has concluded with Lewis Hamilton winning the race. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso rolled back the years in a spectacular fashion. As it turned out, he and teammate Esteban Ocon finished in the points for Alpine Racing. It certainly silenced many critics who thought that Alonso was past his prime.

Speaking after the race, he said, “It was fun, we were fighting with one McLaren and one Ferrari. A thing that would be unthinkable in Imola and Bahrain. We made a very big step forward in terms of car performance. All through free practice, we were competitive. Remains a bit of a mystery, what happened yesterday, I could not feel the grip in qualifying, I was not comfortable. That probably compromised my race, but I’ll try to get better next Saturday in qualifying.”

What else did Fernando Alonso say about his performance?

The 2-time world champion confessed that he played it very carefully in Bahrain and just wanted to finish the race. Meanwhile in Imola, he was hugely uncomfortable in the car and with the conditions. According to him, the intermediate tyres did not feel good, he also had to contend with poor visibility and a poor qualifying. Admittedly, his battle with the Ferrari and McLaren reminded older fans of simpler times when Renault used to battle Ferrari and McLaren

Owing to this, Portiimao was pretty much the only place where he could extract the car’s potential. Obviously, he was kicking himself for his poor qualifying, so he channeled that anger into his driving during the race. Of course, the Spanish veteran is not trying to deceive himself into thinking that Alpine can keep up this consistent pace.

He continued, “This is really the first race that I was extracting the maximum from the car. I was upset after yesterday’s qualifying, so today, that anger probably was on track as well”

Already, the likes of Bahrain and Imola proved that the car reacts differently to each track. He and the team were just fortunate that the Algarve International Circuit responded well to his machine. Looking ahead to the coming races in Barcelona and Monte Carlo, Alonso acknowledged that overtaking is difficult there. Which is why he is placing more emphasis on qualifying at those race venues.

READ MORE: Imola Felt ‘Like Three Races’ for Fernando Alonso as He Looks Forward to a ‘Fun’ Portimao F1 Track