Fernando Alonso expecting "a few surprises" in F1 season-opener

Fernando Alonso

Alonso expecting "a few surprises" in F1 season-opener

Alonso expecting "a challenging season" overall

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 24 March 2021 09:29

Fernando Alonso believes there will be "a few surprises" when Formula 1 returns to action this weekend in Bahrain.

The three days of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit provided clues as to a likely pecking order, with Red Bull appearing to have the edge over a struggling Mercedes at the head of the queue.

As for the midfield, McLaren again appears strong, while behind it Ferrari, Aston Martin, AlphTauri, and Alonso's new team Alpine are jostling for position.

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Two-time F1 champion Alonso, whilst happy with his early running for Alpine across his day and a half in the A521, believes the opening race weekend may prove more remarkable than people currently think.

"We covered a lot of mileage during testing, which is important as it gives you something to build on for the rest of the season," said Alonso.

"We also completed most of our programme during the three days in Bahrain, so we are relatively pleased on that front. In terms of performance, it’s too early to tell.

"I think we won’t know the true pecking order of the grid until the first qualifying session on Saturday where everyone has low fuel, the fastest tyres fitted and full power from the engine.

"I expect there will be a few surprises."

Despite Alpine's solid performance throughout testing, executive director Marcin Budkowski has conceded his team has more work to do in Friday's practice sessions - which for this season have been shortened to an hour each from 90 minutes.

"We had a good pre-season test and we covered solid mileage without any significant reliability issues," said Budkowski.

"We went through our items and, from a preparation point of view, we’re in better shape than previous seasons.

"We have some unanswered questions on the car, though, and we are working through all the data from the test last week to improve our understanding and are planning further tests in free practice on Friday."