Alonso: "The car seems to work well here in Canada"

In the first two free practice sessions on Friday led by Max Verstappen in Canada, many of the eyes were on the Alpine team, and especially an Alonso who managed to be among the fastest in both practices.

The Spaniard slipped third behind the Dutchman and Carlos Sainz in FP1 and then, in an FP2 where the favorites took another step forward, Fernando Alonso clung to the top 5, behind the Ferraris, Verstappen and Vettel .

Quickly on social networks, many remembered that Alpine Fridays are usually much more hopeful than what we later see on Saturdays and Sundays, but the two-time champion was satisfied with the A521 .

“I think it’s been another decent Friday for us,” he said. “The car seems to be working quite well on this challenging track here in Montreal.”

After a two-year absence due to the pandemic, the Canadian GP returns to the calendar. In addition, in 2019, F1’s last visit there, Alonso was out of F1, so he had not set foot on that track since 2018.

“We haven’t raced in Canada for a number of years and it feels a little different than previous years,” he commented. “Things like getting on curbs feel very different with ground effect cars.”

However, Alonso enjoyed Friday: “Overall, it was a good experience.”

Rain is not ruled out on Saturday, so the teams tried to collect as much information as they could in order to be as well prepared for Sunday’s Grand Prix. “It looks like there could be a mixed weather forecast, so we’re trying to get as much data as possible in preparation for the race,” concluded the Spaniard.

For his part, Esteban Ocon ended up closing the top 10, right in that tenth position that would give him a point if he repeats himself at the end of the race. The Frenchman suffered a setback in the first session when a plastic bag got caught in the car on his right front brake, but still summed up his Friday as “a productive day”.

“It feels good to be back in Montreal and drive here after four years away,” he said. “This Friday was all about reacquainting yourself with the track and understanding it. It’s important to set up the car and optimize it as best we can for a track like this and I think we used both sessions well for that.”

After not raining in either of the first two sessions, Ocon also spoke about the possibility of water arriving on day two: “It rained shortly after FP2, and it looks like it will rain on Saturday and we may see a bit of confusion in the order of the cars, which could make it interesting.

“From the looks of it, we have a competitive car, so hopefully we can make the most of the opportunities.”

Finally, the technical director of Alpine, Paty Fry , defined Friday as “relatively productive”.

“Unfortunately Esteban had the problem with the bag. Fernando enjoyed a calmer day and was generally happier with his set-up from the get-go and that is probably reflected in the timesheets.”

“Our long runs looked pretty good with both drivers on hard tires towards the end of the second session. We will be keeping a close eye on the weather as rain is forecast throughout the weekend here in Montreal and we could well see a wet qualifying session. “, he pointed.

We will have to look at the sky.