“I felt strong compared to Hamilton,” Fernando Alonso admitted that Alpine was well equipped to fend off Mercedes’ challenge

 “I felt strong compared to Hamilton,” Fernando Alonso admitted that Alpine was well equipped to fend off Mercedes’ challenge

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton

Fernando Alonso finished P9 in the Canadian circuit, he started P2 two places ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Alonso believed he could have stopped Mercedes if Lewis from the podium the Brit managed to get after a few fights. The Spaniard mentioned being strong enough at the start to resist the Mercedes if not to fight the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari.

Alonso started P2 after a fantastic qualifying run beating the Ferrari of another Spaniard Carlos Sainz. The 2-time world champion finished at the top of the list in Free Practice 3 and hoped for a similar run in the wet qualifying and so did he. The “El plan” for the audience seemed to have somehow on Saturday and people hoped for a Max-Alonso fight for the lead into the turn of the Canadian GP. Although it didn’t happen, Alpine were fast enough to stop the W13’s behind him, said Alonso.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4-3u-YW7MQ

“At the beginning of the race I felt strong compared to Hamilton. We just didn’t have the pace of Verstappen and Sainz, but okay to control Hamilton and the Mercedes,” he explains.

FS Video

Also Read: “It really does hinder” : Lewis Hamilton wants Mercedes to do fewer ‘experiments’

Christian Horner saw the return of the Mercedes on the Canadian circuit. 

Toto Wolff on the Mercedes W13
Toto Wolff reveals that Mercedes do not have plans of shifting the focus to their 2023 car yet.

Mercedes in 2022 has been off the pace and are even struggling to get a place on the podium this season. The same team won the constructor champion last season, beating the current table-toppers Red bull. The silver arrows have only managed 5 podiums till now in the season, with no wins, this is the worst stat for the team since the engine regulations in 2014.

But recently the owners of W13 have seen a positive setup for the team, handing them adequate pace to fight for the likes of a podium if not a win now. Red Bull team principal, Chrisitan Horner, sees this as a changing point for the UK-based team. Spain and Canada were two strong tracks the Mercedes managed to get a jump on. 

Also Read: “The package is simply too strong,” Mika Hakkinen reckons Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s juggernaut will be tough to stop

Also Read: Christian Horner accuses FIA of favoring Mercedes: “It is overtly biased to sorting one team’s problems out”