Fernando Alonso: “We were too slow, that’s the problem”

Starting in 5th and 6^e position on the starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Alpine could have high expectations. But at the Hungaroring, a mixture of bad strategy coupled with battles between teammates compromised the chances of the Tricolore team. Yet with regard to the race, the 8^e place of Fernando Alonso and the 9^e position of Esteban Ocon seem unexpected. By finishing the race with the number of points that McLaren, Alpine can be shared between regret and relief.

« There were a lot of people, I obviously had to slow down, but nothing happened, Explain Fernando Alonso. It's probably a missed opportunity at the start, I was off to a good start, but there's nothing more to comment on. » Yet before the first corner, the defense ofEsteban Ocon on his teammate set the tone for the Hungarian Grand Prix. If there was no contact, Lewis Hamilton took the opportunity to overtake them.

This situation happened again a little later in the race. At the second corner, the Normand once again defended his teammate's attack. And as in the first lap, both drivers slowed down and it was Daniel Ricciardo who benefited from it. “ Daniel had a different strategy, it wasn't our concern at the time, so it wasn't a problem », Explains the veteran of the grid who did not expect to see this maneuver from his teammate. “ I was very surprised by this defense, sometimes I do the same thing, sometimes he does the same thing, so... »

Difficulties getting the tires up to temperature for Alonso

But after the race, the Spaniard preferred to play the unity card in front of the media. We try to do our race our way, but by always giving ourselves this margin of 1% to avoid having incidents, we have never had any and we never will,” says Fernando Alonso.

In addition to the duels on the track, the French team was not helped by its tire strategy. When trying the challenge of hard tires, the two A522s never managed to have any rhythm. “ On strategy, we were too slow, that's the problem. I don't think the one stop strategy was worse or particularly worse than the two stop strategy, but our pace today wasn't as good as yesterday, I don't know if it was the conditions or the wind , but was struggling with tire temperatures on both stints », says the Spaniard.

So in view of the difficulties displayed by Alpine in the race this Sunday, everyone will be satisfied with this result and having secured 4^e place in the championship before the break. “ The only thing to remember is that we score the same points as McLaren and we must be proud, happy with the result. Although probably we had higher expectations starting 5th and 6^e “, explains Fernando Alonso.

ALSO READ > Verstappen wins ahead of Mercedes in Hungary