Celebrating years as a Formula 1 driver is something very special, and it is what Fernando Alonso experienced on Friday at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he blew out 41 candles before taking to the track with his Alpine. The man from Oviedo had high hopes for this weekend, as the French team managed to win last season with Esteban Ocon in a performance that will be remembered for the Spaniard’s defense against Lewis Hamilton.
However, the Hungaroring track gave him a reality check in the first free practice session, where he only had the pace to be tenth, even behind his French teammate, more than a second and a half off Carlos’ fastest time. Sainz. In the Hungarian afternoon, the Spaniard improved his pace, and in the qualifying simulations with the softer rubber he was able to climb to sixth position, six tenths behind the other Ferrari, Charles Leclerc’s, who led the second practices.
After finishing the work on the track, Alonso was satisfied with the results and the information collected, so he is happy on such a special day as his birthday.
“Today has been a productive Friday and we have tried some different things in terms of the set-up of the car,” acknowledged the two-time Spanish champion. “The weather looks like it will be very changeable tomorrow and on Sunday, so who knows what we will be up against.”
“We have collected some good data, and we have executed a good program in both practice sessions,” he continued. “The car felt quite good and was good to drive, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
“I must say that it was also very nice to drive through Budapest on my birthday,” said Fernando Alonso before focusing on the third practice session on Saturday morning and qualifying.
However, in his team, they are not as satisfied as the Spanish driver, and as Alpine technical director Pat Fry acknowledged, it was a difficult day in the Enstone garage: “Today was a particularly difficult day, as the The grip on the track was very low, which made things difficult for the drivers.”
“It has been a problem that most of the teams have had, but the track will continue to be cleaned and improved session after session,” said the Briton. “We will continue to monitor the weather as conditions are going to change drastically.”
The water could be one of the tricks for the French team, and perhaps they will surprise in a qualifying session that is expected to be wet: “There is a good chance that it will rain tomorrow, possibly for qualifying, and this year we have already shown that we can be competitive.
“Then we have our sights set on Sunday, where the conditions will be much cooler than today. As always, we have a lot to analyze to be better prepared, both for qualifying and for the race, but I would say that we are in very good shape. “, sentenced one of the top managers of Alpine in the technical plane.
