Fernando Alonso says his “anger” about fighting in qualifying resulted in him driving through the Formula 1 field in Portimao and finishing eighth for Alpine.
Alpine showed a competitive pace for the Portuguese Grand Prix throughout practice, except that Alonso dropped to 13th in qualifying when teammate Esteban Ocon finished sixth on the grid.
In the race, Alonso fought his way up and overtook Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz in the closing stages to cross the line in eighth place, just one second behind Ocon.
It was Alonso’s first top 10 finish on the track since returning to F1 earlier this year, having inherited a point for P10 thanks to Kimi Raikkonen’s penalty after the race at Imola.
When asked whether the delayed attack through the field was a sign of the old gladiator Alonso in Formula 1, he replied: “I agree a little with that.
“I think in Bahrain I was more cautious about everything just to do the first Grand Prix. In Imola I felt so uncomfortable with the conditions in the car. I didn’t feel good at the junctions, the visibility. Qualifying was bad . ” .
“I think this is really the first race in which I got the maximum out of the car. And yes, I was angry after yesterday’s qualifying. Today, that anger was probably on the track as well.”
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Alpine brought an updated tier to Portimao for its A521 car, which allowed Ocon and Alonso to find more pace and maximize the updates it previously debuted at Imola.
Alonso was encouraged that Alpine could struggle with runners in the upper midfield like Ferrari and McLaren during the race, but remained unsure why his qualifying had been so bad.
“It was a good race, but in general it was a good weekend, not just the race,” said Alonso.
“I felt that the car was much more competitive here than in Imola and Bahrain. We fought with a McLaren, a Ferrari and an AlphaTauri. In any case, we were in a group that we couldn’t be in Imola or Bahrain a positive topic.
“We felt competitive from the first RP. We were fifth in the second RP, we could have been third in the third RP. So it remains a bit of a mystery what happened yesterday in qualifying where I didn’t feel comfortable.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same grip as in any other session and that affected my race a little.
“But yes, overall I am very happy with the weekend in general and the performance of the car. I think it was a good Sunday for us as Alpine as the cars were more competitive than any other race this year.”
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