In 2021, despite the fact that the car seemed to be less fast than the current one, Alpine managed a victory and a podium. Very different story is this season. None of this has been achieved, not even by Fernando Alonso nor by Stephen Ocon.
The Asturian has been very clear about it. If they haven’t achieved at least one podium it’s “their own fault”: “I think we don’t have a victory because what happened in Hungary last year may never happen in 100 years. And then the podium, I don’t know, maybe in Canada we had a chance, maybe in Australia we had another, but we lost them through our own fault.”
The goal now is to be fourth in the constructors’ championship: “I think McLaren is one step behindThat’s why we’re fighting for fourth place, but when you’re not fighting for a championship, being fifth or fourth doesn’t change.”
And when he is reminded of all the points lost due to mechanical problems, Alonso does not forget the number: “I should be 60 points above from anyone else this year. I think after 2022, I’m going to be extremely lucky next year in everything.”
“I know that there is a lot of talk after Mexico, five retirements this course with engine problems, but there are four other races that I finished all without batteryEither the car didn’t start in Austria, or I lost a wheel at the pit stop. So it was incredible, 20 races, having problems in nine or something like that, that’s almost 50% of the tests,” said the Asturian driver.
The reality is that Alonso’s 2022 has been terrible. Alpine has not given him a car according to his quality, which this season has been very high. In addition, the decisions in the team have ended up leading the two-time champion to sign with Aston-Martin for next winter.
