The weekend of the 2022 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix started in the best possible way, celebrating its 41st birthday on a circuit that holds very good memories, such as its first victory in the highest category of motorsport, back in the 2003 season. with Renault .
Now, almost two decades later, the two-time world champion is trying to put a relatively competitive Alpine at the top of the midfield, rivaling even the Mercedes. This was the case from the first free practice sessions, although they were sessions that did not clarify the real position of the A522 on this Hungaroring track.
With the threat of rain, the Spaniard went out to qualifying hoping to cause an upset, and although he saved a bit in the first round, for Q2 , in his first attempt, he was placed just two tenths behind Max Verstappen in second position, and only Charles Leclerc brought him down to third place.
Already in the last and definitive Q3 , the man from Oviedo came out with a set of new softs that allowed him to climb to fifth place, seven tenths off Carlos Sainz’s best time on provisional pole, but given the constant improvement of the track, Alonso He fell one more position in favor of his teammate, Esteban Ocon, who overtook him to achieve fifth place.
After getting out of the car, he acknowledged having fulfilled what he set himself as homework, but he is cautious about what could happen in Sunday’s race. The DAZN F1 microphones asked the Asturian how the qualifying session went, and he replied: “Very well, the goal was to be in the top ten, in Q3.”
“We got it with some slack in Q2, and now being fifth and sixth is a great result for today, so let’s see if we can get points tomorrow,” said Fernando Alonso, who wants to continue the streak of seven weekends consecutive within the points area.
Alpine is battling McLaren for fourth place in the constructors’ championship, and one of the Woking cars slipped ahead of the French. The two-time world champion admitted that it will be difficult to close the gap on the British, who are now at four points.
“It’s going to be difficult, Lando [Norris] starts at the front, let’s see what we can do. We also started on the dirty part, so I’ll have to defend myself a bit at the start, but, as I say, we’ll see if I can have a good race” he explained.
“The weather also gives some forecast of rain, so we will have to be attentive,” concluded Alonso, who will start in sixth place with the idea of, why not, hopefully repeat what happened last season with Alpine, when they climbed to the top of the podium.
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