Alonso confident of "long game" Alpine success

Fernando Alonso has explained Alpine is willing to play the "long game this year" with the "huge" developments expected across the season.

Along with the rest of the grid, Alpine is eager to discover its true position in the 2022 F1 pecking order at this weekend's curtain-raiser in Bahrain.

After suffering a few issues on the opening day of last week's Bahrain test, the team enjoyed two days of largely trouble-free running to close out pre-season with Alonso setting the fourth-fastest time overall.

Asked if Alpine could be a frontrunning team this year, Alonso said: “It is an interesting question and we don’t have any answers yet.

"We have to wait and see how the first races develop and see what we need from the car and the package.

“I am optimistic because the team is putting a huge effort into this programme. We have the support from our president, from everyone at Renault and Alpine came last year into Formula 1 also with the mind of this set of regulations and trying to be a contender in the future.

“If that future will be 2022 or 2025, I have no idea. But there is this commitment and this view which I share and I embrace. Let’s see.

“It’s going to be a long game this year because the rate of development is going to be huge and there are 23 races."

Using 2021 as evidence of his willingness to wait for success, Alonso added: “I remember here last year I retired the car and Esteban was P12 or P13 so zero points after Bahrain, and we won a race in Hungary and were enjoying the season.

"This year is going to be a long game to play and I’m confident we are going to have a good season.”

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