Alonso enjoys "most comfortable" run of F1 comeback in Portugal

Fernando Alonso feels the "most comfortable" he has been in his new Alpine machine since making his return to F1 at the start of this year after Friday practice for this weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix.

Former two-time champion Alonso struggled for pace at the last race in Imola but he managed to finish in the top five in practice two in Portimão as his French team showed signs of vast improvement.

“It was a good practice day for me and the most comfortable I’ve had this season compared to Bahrain and Imola," said Alonso. "We didn't touch the set up much because everything felt ok.

"I was happy with the setup of the car quite early in the day, so I concentrated mostly on becoming more acclimatised to the circuit and then evaluating the tyres over the two sessions.

"There is still lots of data for us to analyse, but it’s a good start to the weekend."

Alonso previously experienced the track layout in LMP1 machinery but this was his first outing around it in an F1 machine.

"We will have to see tomorrow. The positions won't be quite different to Imola or Bahrain, I don't think that there is any big changes in the order, it's just a different Friday, different approach. But fingers crossed we can keep this pace tomorrow.

"The track was good to drive, it felt enjoyable every lap. I think traffic could be a challenge tomorrow in qualifying. It’s an exciting track to drive, that’s for sure.”

Esteban Ocon's sixth spot in second practice will motivate the outfit, although racing director Davide Brivio is cautious about relying on Friday running for optimism.

“I think it was a good day for the team today," Brivio explained. "It is just Friday, though, and we won’t be looking too much into the timesheets.

"We were able to test a few things on each car in the morning, and then we completed our usual long runs in the second session on each tyre to collect data and information for the race.

"The drivers did a good job; it’s Fernando’s first time here in a Formula 1 car, so he was getting used to the track a little bit and Esteban ran very consistently in both sessions.

"It’s a positive start to the weekend, we’ll keep working hard and see how the next two days unfold.”

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