Stroll and his duel with Alonso: "He got excited and started screwing me" (video)

The first of the three F1 Bahrain 2022 test days has not been the most entertaining for Alonso , who has spent more than half of the afternoon session stuck in his garage while Alpine seemed to try to solve problems with the car.

Although the team claimed that more than a setback it was a “major change in the general configuration”, the Spaniard rode less than he would have liked, and closed the day with only 24 laps after his teammate Esteban Ocon gave for the tomorrow 42.

However, in one of the moments in which he was able to go out on the track, the two-time world champion experienced a racing situation when he met Lance Stroll on the main straight and, after passing him, they had a duel as if on a Sunday in grand prize will be treated.

Video: the Alonso vs. Stroll duel in the Bahrain test

(click here if the video does not appear)

Alonso crossed the finish line ahead, but the Canadian braked later and snuck his Aston Martin around the inside of the first corner to move to the front. The battle did not end there, since after the first links (turns 2 and 3) the Alpine rider again won the position, although on the long straight until turn 4 Stroll would overtake him again.

Asked about the duel by Motorsport.com, Lance Stroll explained: “I was on my long run, and I think maybe he got frustrated, I didn’t realize he was on a flying lap or something.

“I was just trying to follow my race simulation, they told me I was running 1:40. And I think maybe he was on a cool down lap or he made a mistake and aborted, and then he went back on the throttle. I don’t know, I wasn’t sure what show he was doing, but he got a little excited and stopped in front of me and started fucking me.”

“And I just wanted to get on with my run. So I gave it back to him. And then he tried to pass me again, and I just passed him back and kept going.”

It was a good opportunity to check the effectiveness of the new regulations that Formula 1 is launching this year, and which is intended to allow the cars to be followed more closely without suffering those turbulences and that loss of performance that occurred in the previous generation. during wheel-to-wheel battles.

Alonso finally finished in 12th place (out of 15 drivers who finished in time on this day), while Stroll, who had caused a red flag at the beginning of the afternoon session by losing one of the aerodynamic sensor grills that his car had , it was fourth.

Activity resumes on Friday, where Alonso hopes to finally have half a day without problems after the last day of the Barcelona tests ended early and this first of the Bahrain tests was shorter than expected for him.