The first day of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix 2022 was very different from what the drivers of the highest category of motorsport were used to doing, and that is that they were forced to share asphalt in the opening session of the weekend with several rookies who put some teams to comply with the FIA regulations, and in the second free practice they rolled with Pirelli’s experimental tires for the upcoming 2023 season .
This is what Fernando Alonso experienced, arriving at a track where he knows what it means to get on the podium after he did it a decade ago with Ferrari, but the Spaniard will very possibly have to face a penalty on the starting grid on Sunday for change components of your worn out Renault power unit .
Focusing on the results on the Circuit of the Americas, the man from Oviedo achieved the sixth fastest time, eight tenths of what his compatriot Carlos Sainz registered with the softer rubber, although in FP2 he did not even enter the top ten, remaining 17th , more than four and a half seconds off the fastest time of Charles Leclerc and immediately behind Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon.
“Today has been a good Friday of practice for us, and we have successfully completed our run-in schedule,” said the Spaniard as he stepped off the A522. “We will continue our analysis overnight and tomorrow in Free Practice 3, so that we can be in the best shape for qualifying.”
“We also did the Pirelli tire test this afternoon, and we hope they can get a lot of data out of it. It’s fantastic to be back in front of the fans here in Austin and we’re looking forward to qualifying tomorrow,” explained the two-time champion. of the world of Formula 1.
For his part, the Enstone team’s engineering manager, Ciaron Pilbeam , said: “It was a quiet day in Austin, with two very busy practice sessions. We had to do more than usual in our Free Practice 1 program , as Free Practice 2 was dedicated to testing Pirelli’s prototype tyres.”
“The first practice went well with Esteban [Ocon] using the updated floor, which worked as expected and in line with our pre-event preparations,” he continued. “Although part of the track has been resurfaced since last year, it is still bumpy in places, and our car seemed to be adapting well to the conditions.”
“We have a good base to work on for the rest of the weekend, and we will do our usual Friday night work to prepare for tomorrow’s qualifying, where we intend to make further improvements,” concluded the British engineer.
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