The third pre-season test session in 2022 started with some teams forcing their cars a little more, because although it is true that there are still three more days of testing in Bahrain before reaching the first race of the year, this Friday is the last day to test the single-seaters until two weeks from now.
For this reason, some teams chose to increase the performance of their cars and their engines, in search of better data from which to work during the next few days, something that left the door open to possible reliability problems.
Just one hour after the start of the day, Fernando Alonso was the protagonist of the first serious mishap of this Formula 1 preseason in 2022, being forced to stop his car in the middle of the track due to an engine problem in his Alpine A522.
The Asturian driver’s car began to emit a lot of smoke from the rear and immediately the fire entered the scene, which did not allow him to return to the pits under his own power and caused the red flag and subsequent entry of the marshals to the track to put out the fire using fire extinguishers.
Gallery: Engine issues for Alonso and Alpine in 2022 F1 testing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
As confirmed by the team after the mishap, from the pit wall they would have warned Alonso by radio about it, asking him to stop the car at turn 13 in Montmeló, since they had noticed an alarming lack of pressure in the Alpine’s power unit.
Despite this, the Spanish pilot could not avoid the catastrophe and the stewards had to enter the scene to avoid greater evils. In this way, Alonso and surely also Alpine , except for surprise at the end of the day, end their presence in the pre-season tests in Barcelona with a very bitter taste.
At the time of the mishap, Alonso was running in first position, with slightly more competitive times than what we had seen so far in the Alpine, a clear sign that the French structure was forcing all the A522 systems a little more.
