The Spaniard has gone from not appearing in advertising for the Bahrain Grand Prix to being the center of attention. Today (4:00 p.m.) it hosts podium options
A dozen Bahraini kids are on a mission. They are between 10 and 14 years old, they combine marketing from various Formula 1 teams and they run, they run very fast through the wide paddock of the Sakhir circuit. Their objective is to get the maximum number of pilots to sign their caps. They do not seem to distinguish between nyck devries and charles leclercbetween logan sergeant and Czech Prezbut Fernando Alonso He leaves the mixed zone and they leave everything to chase him. Is rare. When Alonso was champion they had not been born, in reality they have never seen him celebrate a victory. So why do they do it? Because Alonso is the center of attention before the race this Sunday in Bahrain (4:00 p.m., DAZN).
Nobody moves so many televisions or so many followers, even more than the champion max verstappen. Fernando! Greets! We are Asturians!, shouts a fan from the VIP area, above the garages, and Alonso does to greet his compatriots, but while he walks Nico Rosberg He is asking questions for Sky, a dozen more journalists chase him and the kids ask him to please, please, sign their caps. In the end they succeed, just before the Spaniard gets into his booth.
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At Alonso’s unexpected party: “It’s incredible”
At Alonso’s unexpected party: “It’s incredible”
It’s almost a dream. Eight months ago when I signed for Aston Martin everything looked much worse, in winter I did not quite trust the tests and now I have been able to verify that the good feelings were true. Even when Q1 and Q2 passed, I expected a reality check, but it has not been the case. We are with those ahead. I still have to pinch myself, commented Alonso after taking fifth place on the grid in Bahrain. In the first race of the year, he will start in the third row, only behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Checo Pérez, in the front row, and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, in second. In Q3, Alonso, in fact, was close to snatching fourth position from his compatriot, but he passed him at the last moment, with the clock already at zero.
In any case, the classification served to place the candidates for the World Cup after the illusions, the rumors, the preseason forecasts. Red Bull confirmed its dominance, Ferrari confirmed its speed despite the doubts that it maintains in the race and Mercedes showed that it was feinting, that it looks more than it hinted at in winter. George Russell will start sixth after being four hundredths behind Alonso and lewis hamilton leave just behind the Spanish.
Trials on the podium
What podium options do I have?, the Aston Martin driver asked a journalist in the mixed zone and laughed. I’m sorry that I’m laughing, it’s been a while since I could really consider that option, Alonso proclaimed, although he later corrected himself and remembered the race in Canada last year, when he started from second place. That was his best position on the grid in 2022, the only time in the entire season that he started ahead of fifth place that he will enjoy this Sunday. This promises to be a fun World Cup, Alonso concluded with a constant, shining smile, impossible to hide. His aura shines again in a Formula 1 that seemed to have already relegated him to the background.
The Bahrain circuit is decorated with hundreds of thousands of checkered flags and Bahraini flags, millions of LED lights and many, many photographs of the drivers. Next to the publicity of the night concerts – on Friday, DJ Snake, on Saturday, craig david-, the promotion of the Grand Prix appears with a slogan, Follow your champion, and four protagonists: Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton and Lando Norris, reference of McLaren. The four are everywhere, also around the Ferris wheel and the simulators that delight fans. But there is no sign of Alonso. The absence of him on billboards and banners suggest that at 41 years old, perhaps his return among the best was no longer expected.
On the other hand, this Saturday, almost at midnight in the Arabian peninsula, those responsible for the track podium were testing the videomapping technology for today’s post-race ceremony and the person they used as an example was Alonso. For more than an hour he appeared with the green Aston Martin in the background as if he were the winner. Alonso’s position on the grid is great news for Formula 1, Verstappen himself acknowledged, who in recent days, like most young drivers, has repeatedly highlighted the face of illusion that the Spaniard shows at all times. He may be there in the race, assume the reigning champion. Whatever happens this Sunday in Bahrin, this is the season of Alonso’s comeback. Formula 1 has recovered an idol.
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