“It’s impossible to place an order right now” – Fernando Alonso

This weekend’s season opening Bahrain Grand Prix will see BWT Alpine F1 Team driver, Fernando Alonso, begin his twentieth season in Formula 1. Both Alonso and team-mate Esteban Ocon are looking forward to getting racing with the new era of Formula 1 cars this weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The veteran Spaniard driver is incredibly entering his twentieth season in the sport this weekend, perhaps it will be his final. Alonso who has won in Bahrain three times during his Formula 1 career, may well find himself getting up to speed quicker than his younger opponents this weekend, the Spaniard has plenty of experience at having to adjust to new technical regulations.

Alonso is feeling good in himself ahead of the season-opener, he is also relatively happy with the team’s A522.

“The winter has gone well for me. I feel in good physical shape and I had some rest over the winter too. We’ve been busy in Barcelona and Bahrain the last few weeks and because we’ve had more time in the car I’m far more prepared. 

“We’re reasonably pleased with the A522 and our preparations over the winter. Nobody knows what fuel or engine modes everybody has been using during testing, so it’s impossible to place an order right now. We always want to do more laps as the learnings are endless in Formula 1 but I’m looking forward to Saturday and seeing where we are against our competition.”

“I have great memories of this track” – Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon enters the new season on the back of a very successful 2021 season, where of course he picked up his first-ever win in Formula 1, coming at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Reliability across the field is likely to play a big factor in the results on Sunday, if he can make it to the end then Ocon might just find himself in a very good position.

Bahrain does hold a special place in Ocon’s heart, the Frenchman claimed his first-ever Formula 1 podium at the circuit in 2020, albeit on the shorter circuit. Ocon likes the Bahrain International Circuit and is looking forward to helping the team achieve all their goals this season.

“We’ve spent quite a bit of time in Bahrain the last couple of years. Of course, it is where I achieved my first podium in Formula 1, alongside some other good results in the past, so I have great memories of this track. It is a great venue and an exciting place to host the first race. We need to work very closely as a team to keep learning and improving the car to extract maximum performance week in and week out.

“My goal is to help the team do that while keeping my head down and performing every weekend. I have a lot of confidence and trust in this team, but we need to stay humble and leave no stone unturned to achieve our 2022 objectives.”