Complicated start for Alpine and Alonso in Austin

Alpine et Fernando Alonso had an eventful start to the weekend in the vast Texan expanses.

The double world champion had barely ventured onto the track on Friday morning for a reconnaissance lap when he had to stop his A521 in the runoff area of ​​turn 12 due to an alert in his hydraulic system.

The incident led to a red flag for the first 10 minutes of the opening session and deprived Alonso of much of his morning's work, although the Iberian was able to resume his program before the checkered flag.

In the afternoon, Alonso spun around the penultimate corner and hit the barriers with his rear wing.

« It wasn't a very clear Friday, admitted the Asturian. We had a problem in FP1 before spinning in FP2.

I think we haven't yet managed to unlock the potential of the car. We struggle with the balance of the car. There's a lot of work.

Regarding the problem in FP1, I had to stop because the engine was running without water. The team did a good job finding a solution and we were able to complete a few laps. But as I said, we are not satisfied with the balance of the car, nor with the behavior of the tires ».

Modest 15th and 13th in the two opening sessions, Alonso finished a few lengths behind his teammate Esteban Ocon (12th and 11th), who had not driven on the Circuit of the Americas since the 2018 season.

« I had to rediscover the trail, confided the Norman on Friday evening. It's a completely different challenge than what I knew. There are many more bumps and the track is more slippery because it offers less grip.

We improved the car quite a bit between FP1 and FP2 but we still want to make it progress. Everything is not perfect yet.

The objective will be to get into the points. At the moment we don't look very competitive but it's only the beginning ».

Currently 5th in the Manufacturers standings, 12 points ahead Alpha Tauri, Alpine remains on 15 Grands Prix in a row with at least one car in the Top 10, the last scoreless result for the Blues dating back to the opening round in Bahrain.

EL3 is scheduled for 20:00 p.m. (French time) this Saturday before qualifying at 23:00 p.m.