Alonso: “Ferrari will be strong in Jeddah”

With a smile for what happened two weeks ago in Bahrainbut at the same time, with our feet on the ground because of how many things can change this weekend Saudi Arabia. This is how he treats the media Fernando Alonso this Thursday in the run-up to the GP of Saudi Arabiain Jeddah, a circuit completely different from the only one where this year’s F1 rolled, that Bahrain, where the pre-season tests and the first race of the year were held. The Spaniard, who drove the second best car on the grid in Bahrain thanks to his excellent tire management on a circuit with maximum wear, faces Friday as a “test” day to understand the behavior of his car and its level compared to others on a circuit with little degradation and where its main elements are two of the weak points of his car at Sakhir: its speed on long stretches and its performance in fast corners.

Precisely, that was the strongest point he presented Ferrari with his SF-23 on the runway sakhir. And already know jeddah relegation will not sink the Italians, it is clear to Fernando Alonso that how fast the car is on the straight and one lap in qualifying, the Maranello They should take a big step forward this weekend. In the same line, he believes that Mercedes, which made the first improvements of the year, should improve to a fast car in the straight and that it has already overtaken Aston Martin in the qualifying session of Bahrain.

“I’m sure they will improve. They are very big and very strong teams,” he commented on ‘DAZN F1’ regarding Ferrari and Mercedes. “Ferrari did very well here last year in qualifying and were tenth behind Red Bull in Bahrain. I’m sure they will be strong, because they seem to be very fast in the fast corners and on the long straight, which is the same. this circuit is . Here they will be strong”, commented the Italians. “And Mercedes, too -he continued-, they were close on Saturday (in qualifying) and in the race. They are strong teams that are used to fighting at the front. This is where they will improve.”

keep calm

For all this, Fernando Alonso thinks only of being calm. He knows he has a smaller chance of a podium here than in Bahrain even though his rival should be lower because Leclerc will have 10 grid position penalties in Jeddah. “A win? It’s great, but you have to keep your feet on the ground. The goal of the team this weekend is to maintain maximum concentration, keep things simple, avoid complications and not invent of strange things. This circuit has a strange asphalt, the front tires suffer instead of the rear ones, there are 16 curves at more than 250 km / h and it’s another story”, he pointed out .

“We have to see where we are”, recalls Fernando Alonso, happy with everything that happened in Bahrain, but he knows that this track is very different. “I am very happy. After Bahrain I had a week to reflect and accept everything that happened and to face this race with enthusiasm. It’s a different circuit, Australia will be the same, and after these three races we’ll have a more concrete and clear picture of where the car is.” That’s the main goal. See how the car performs on these two different tracks. For this reason, this Friday’s session will be a pure test to understand the car on this circuit and gain the necessary confidence to attack the walls and also make a difference with the hands in that aspect.

‘Testing’ important this Friday and approach the walls

“In other years, we have two car circuits in the pre-season, like Barcelona and Bahrain. This time, this circuit is the first outside of Bahrain (where the tests and the first race were made), so there’s a lot to discover from the cars. Friday will be more of a test than a race and we’ll see if we can learn something”, he commented.

In this ‘test’ which is Free Training this Friday, Fernando is clear about his goals: “On urban circuits you need to be confident in the car and a set-up that allows you to take risks and get close to the walls. and no car is too nervous. That is the aim for tomorrow (Friday) as well as testing the tires and seeing if the soft, hard and medium are suitable for the race. It will be a Friday of many tests,” he said.