Double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso has said it is still too soon to say where Alpine stand in this year’s pecking order, especially as both pre-season testing and the season-opener took place at the same venue.
Alpine’s 2021 car looked uncompetitive at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Esteban Ocon well out of the points for most of the race, while Alonso was fighting in and around the top 10 but ultimately had to retire after a plastic bag got lodged in his car.
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Most teams have already shifted focus to their 2022 cars, as new regulations will come into effect next season, so the pecking order is unlikely to change a lot over the course of the season.
Asked about Alpine’s pace and where they stand relative to the competition, Alonso replied:
“It’s difficult to say. I think we saw different results and a bit of mixed feelings for everybody including us.
“Sometimes we looked a little bit better, sometimes we looked a little bit down. It was the same for everybody so far.
“Even for the top teams and top guys. On Saturday we had an impression, on Friday we had an impression, after the race we had a different impression.”
Continuing, he said the pecking order should become clearer after a few more grand prix.
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“Things are moving up and down for everybody so we will need a couple of races to really have a more established order of things,” Alonso added.
“Let’s wait and see and meanwhile our job is to work hard and identify our weakness if there are any and work on those and keep our strengths. It’s an interesting season in front of everybody.”
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