“Fernando Alonso is like a bull,” says F1 journalist

“Fernando Alonso is like a bull,” says F1 journalist

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso returned to the tracks last weekend, after a two year hiatus from Formula One. The two time F1 champion will race for Alpine this season, partnering Esteban Ocon. The Spaniard had a decent outing at the pre-season testing. He completed 206 runs with a best timing of 1:30.318.

Alonso’s timing was the fastest timing for Alpine throughout the three days of testing. Moreover, the Spaniard had just recovered from a cycling clash a few weeks earlier that left him with titanium plates in his jaw.

Spanish F1 journalist, Antonio Lobato spoke about Alonso after the pre-season testing and described him as a bull. “Alonso is like a bull in spite of the accident, the age, and whatever else they [the critics] want to say. The Alpine is absolutely reliable,” Lobato said.

“I asked Fernando a bit about [testing] and he told me that it’s fine, that the work is complete, but that “we are a bit slow. Getting into Q3 is going to be very difficult,” he added.

Mercedes is the protagonist and is the enemy to beat: Lobato

Antonio Lobato also spoke Mercedes’ performance during the pre-season testing. He stated that despite their slow start on Friday, the Silver Arrows started doing better as the sessions went ahead. The Spaniard believes that Mercedes still remain the team to beat this season. Mercedes has won seven consecutive F1 constructors championships and have dominated in the past few seasons, with only Red Bull getting closer to the German team.

“Mercedes is the protagonist and is the enemy to beat,” said Lobato. “But you can see that it was a nervous car. The great advantage that Hamilton has is that it is a beast entering the corners… And on the long runs it seems to be going quite well,” he added.

“I see it a bit like what happened at the end of week. On Friday they were nervous, but on Saturday when they had to make the return, they did it,” Lobato concluded.

Also Read: “He’s quite demanding, but that’s what I like,” Alpine’s director on Fernando Alonso