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Fernando Alonso admitted that he hadn’t expected to reach Q3 on his Formula 1 return because he had lacked confidence with his Alpine all through Bahrain Grand Prix practice.
Having only been 15th or 16th in all three practice sessions, Alonso looked more likely to struggle to get beyond Q1 than to be in the pole shootout at Sakhir.
But he said he suspected as qualifying began that something better might be possible.
Asked by Sky Sports F1 if he was satisfied with his eventual ninth on the grid, Alonso replied: “I am because I probably didn’t expect it. The weekend has been difficult.
“I lacked confidence a little bit in the rear end of the car. Braking performance was also very different to the test.
“Obviously it’s the first qualifying of the year so you never know what to expect but I’m happy with ninth.
“I was hoping a lot for qualifying. I think the wind direction changed and the cooler temperature, I was thinking that could be a good help for my driving style as well.
“I came with some confidence into qualifying but in a way it was better than expected.”
He underlined that the race would be a case of “many first-time things” for him in his first F1 start since the end of 2018 (below).
“The first time on a start again, first time on a first corner, trying to be away from problems, and then the pitstops. A 2s pitstop is going to feel very new again,” said Alonso, whose team-mate Esteban Ocon was hampered by yellow flags in Q1 and ended up 16th on the grid.
“So there are many things that I need to go through for the first time tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.
“To do the 57 laps in a row will again be the first time, I never did it in testing.”
Alonso said he was wary of the likes of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri starting back in unrepresentative 11th and 13th positions after their efforts to get through Q2 on medium tyres failed.
“I’m aware that there are some guys behind with more pace than us – they tried to qualify with the mediums and it didn’t work, but they are probably faster,” he admitted.
“But if we do a good start, good strategy, top 10 is possible.”
Look out – Fernando fancies his chances at lights out on Sunday 🚦🎯#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/wEkbk3Phu2
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2021
Asked if 2021 F1 was offering him the same adrenaline level as the earlier years of his now two-decade career, Alonso admitted that probably wouldn’t be the case on Sunday but that qualifying had been very fulfilling.
“For the race, less, I have to be honest, because you have to pace yourself for the tyre management,” he said.
“Qualifying, when you put these kind of tyres on, with this peak of performance on the first lap and low fuel, the adrenaline and the fun to drive is amazing.”
