Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso sneak into the 'top 5' | Formula 1

Carlos Sainz, who touched the podium at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, where he was finally fifth, was fourth in Free Practice 2 held in Portimao. The man from Madrid was behind Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, who were the fastest; and ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was fourth on an unprecedented circuit for him. Both Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso were unable to qualify for Q3 at Imola. Still, the first finished the race fifth and the second tenth, both in the points zone. Both hope to take a step forward in Portimao and their result in the Free Games invites optimism, as they have only been surpassed by Mercedes and Verstappen, both asking for time recently. Fernando Alonso still needs more races after two years of absence in Formula 1 and Carlos Sainz also needs more races to be able to keep up with Leclerc. And the fact is that all the pilots who have changed teams are behind their partner at this start of the World Championship; Although Carlos Sainz is the one who is closest, ahead of his teammates For this reason, it is a great merit that he finished ahead of Leclerc in Free Practice 2, in which the Monegasque, who had been fourth in Free Practice 1, has been seventh. Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, has also been ahead of his teammate. Even so, Esteban Ocon has placed sixth behind him. This confirms that Alpine has taken a step forward in Portimao thanks to the improvements it has brought to this circuit. Ferrari ahead of McLaren Leclerc’s seventh place in FP2 is also encouraging. better than McLaren. As for the British team, Ricciardo was eighth and Lando Norris twelfth.As far as the fight for the World Cup is concerned, the first race fell on Hamilton’s side and the second on Verstappen’s. Although it is a mystery if Red Bull will be ahead of Mercedes in the Portuguese Grand Prix. So far it has been this team that has dominated both FP1 and FP2. Bottas set the best time in the first session and Hamilton did it in the second. Verstappen, meanwhile, was second in both. It should be noted that the performance of both Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso was much more discreet in Free 1. The Madrid native was ninth and the Spaniard fourteenth. However, many riders took advantage of their first contact with the Portimao circuit to try things out. Proof of this is Hamilton’s fifth place in this round. McLaren was not fine either in FP1, where Lando Norris was eighth and Ricciardo twelfth. It therefore seems that Ferrari has a good opportunity to cut the seven points behind the British team in the fight for third place in the Constructors’ World Cup. Sergio Pérez, who was third in Free Practice 1, has fallen to tenth position in the second session of practice in Portimao. For its part, AlphaTauri, who slipped Pierre Gasly sixth in the top-10 in the first session, saw him fall to eleventh in FP2 and Yuki Tsunoda was fourteenth in this round. in Portimao A good start to the weekend for @ValtteriBottas 👏 And nice work from @callum_ilott on his F1 track debut👍 # PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ZjmflTF0XM – Formula 1 (@ F1) April 30, 2021 in Portimao A strong session for @LewisHamilton 💪 With @ Max33Verstappen only 0.143 off 👀#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/KASIKBie6F
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 30, 2021