Fernando Alonso: a gas problem could ruin the end of the season | Formula 1

Alpine has promised improvements and does not give up fighting McLaren and Ferrari for third place in the Constructors’ World Championship. However, the French team has a serious gas problem and has already used almost half of the exhausts that the FIA allows to use in a year. This is something that could weigh down the end of the season for both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. In the case of the Asturian rider, in just two Grands Prix, he has used three of those eight exhausts. Thus, you must dose the other five in the remaining twenty-one races. Esteban Ocon, for his part, has used two to date. It is evident that in addition to its speed deficit with respect to Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and AlphaTauri; Alpine should rectify this gas problem as soon as possible. It should be noted that the exhaust is important for the correct operation of the engine. This piece is responsible for preventing gases from accumulating inside and reducing its efficiency. In other words, this problem could be behind the aforementioned speed deficit. It should also be remembered that it was customary until last season to change the exhaust from one race to another. However, the development limitations imposed in 2021 with the aim of reducing costs and minimizing the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, has caused the FIA to limit the number of times a driver can change exhaust to eight. Gas problems? Although the French team was fifth in the Constructors’ World Cup last season and expected to take a step forward in 2021, they have had problems with the wind tunnel. This was recently recognized by Marcin Budkowski, CEO of Alpine:“We knew we experienced some problems during the winter with the regulatory changes, but we also had some problems in the wind tunnel that slowed down development. We knew we had not had the best winter possible. And therefore we expected to be behind in pace. ”However, this is something that Alpine is trying to fix. Ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the French team made improvements and Fernando Alonso did not hesitate to be satisfied after the second race of the World Championship. “I think we improved the car from Bahrain to Imola, all the new parts were positive in free practice. The parts we tested showed us that there was an improvement in terms of downforce on the car. Also the balance I think is better compared to Bahrain, with more rear grip. So in general I think we took a step forward in the right direction, “said the Asturian. Alpine prepares” promising improvements “To the joy of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, Alpine is preparing new updates. “We have a number of test pieces to evaluate and pending analysis that are underway and that look promising,” admitted Marcin Budkowski after the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. “We are trying very hard to try to improve our performance and it is clear by the amount of improvements we bring to Imola. But first of all, we are further behind than we would like to be, so it will take a bit more of a few improvements, “added the Alpine CEO.” Everyone is going to improve their car, so it’s a race. relative.It seems that the car is going to progress with the improvements that we bring, but we have more work to do in the next races to contribute a little more ”, concluded Marcin Budkowski. Alonso’s set-up We will have to see how many races Alpine takes to solve his problem of gases. If they don’t do it soon, both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon run the risk of being penalized, which could ruin their season finale. In the case of the self-critical Alonso, he recently admitted that he must improve more than the car. It will also be necessary to see how many races he needs to get ready after two years away from Formula 1. “I have changed teams, or competition, several times, and you always have to go through a period of adaptation. It was never an excuse and it won’t be now. I should have done better, I was not at an adequate level, but I will be in Portimao ”, were his words.