Fernando Alonso believes the shape of some of Alpine’s main Formula 1 rivals – including Ferrari – has been flattered by the recent street circuits that helped their tire prep.
With Ferrari in particular jumping from a best-of-the-rest contender to pole position in Monaco and Baku, Alonso senses that the competition order has been shaken by the nature of the recent tracks.
He is therefore convinced that it will be better for his Alpine team than his main competitors if F1 returns to regular layouts, as in the next race at Paul Ricard in France.
“We lost a bit in Monaco and Baku [of performance]“Said Alonso. “It was worse in Monaco while we were closer in Baku but I think we have to go back to Barcelona and Portimao. We have some hopes from France that we can return to such performances.
“On the street circuits, tire preparation somehow helps our opponents to improve their performance. They’re fighting for pole position now, but we don’t think that’s the car’s improvement: that’s just turning on the tires for a street circuit.
“But after that there are no more street circuits. Even Singapore is gone. So maybe we will get back to a more normal performance. “
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Alonso delivered the best result since his F1 comeback with a sixth place in Baku after making the best use of the restart after two laps to improve the ranking.
And while there have been some questions about his return to F1 at previous races and whether or not he struggled more than expected, the Spaniard realizes that things have gone a lot better than critics believed.
“I wasn’t too unhappy in a few other races that were generally thought to be very bad,” he said. “I don’t think they were that bad.
“Of course we went to a station in Barcelona and didn’t play there. But we were more or less at the same pace as Esteban [Ocon], in Monaco, and I think I finished two seconds behind him.
“This thing was repeated every weekend and the opinion was that I struggled a lot, even to compare with other riders who changed teams this year, like Daniel.” [Ricciardo] or what ever.
“But I didn’t think that was fair because I think there is a huge difference in their fights compared to what I had. I wasn’t worried. I knew it was only a matter of time. “
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