A “suicidal strategy” left Alonso 17th in Barcelona, a disappointing position in a “positive” weekend for the team,
in the words of the 39-year-old Spaniard.
The Alpine A521 responds and aims for fifth car, but an improvable classification of the two-time champion, the position lost in the start and the competitiveness of the middle zone forced the engineers to play the bets.
And this time they lost.
"Did it make sense to stop the first, and the last, in the same race?"
"It was too risky."
I was eleventh when I stopped.
He had to answer to Gasly, who had stopped something earlier, and the best way to defend a points position was to take a chance.
If we stopped later, Gasly and Vettel pass us and I would have been 12th until the end.
(Go from English to Spanish).
We were at a dead end (laughs).
"How do you feel when you compete in that train of cars that closes the points?"
—It was fun, I enjoyed the day in Barcelona.
There were not many people, only 1,000 people, but you feel the adrenaline when you hear the fans or the 'speaker' say your name.
The race was fun, lots of battles over strategy differences.
We would have liked a better position, and score points, but the weekend was generally positive.
In Barcelona we were competitive like in Portimao, so I think we can be the fifth team behind Ferrari and McLaren.
In the first two races it was more difficult to be in Q3.
There is work to be done with the strategies and the analysis of the tires as well.
Here we take a risk because we wanted to score a point, but it was not a surprise to finish so far behind.
"Did you see the Alpine strong?"
- I was more or less comfortable with the pace, although it is true that the difference in the race is tighter than in qualifying, because all the cars seem similar.
You have to advance step by step, little by little, and extract more benefits from the car and from the part that touches me.
We have identified in which areas we can extract more benefits and this week will be intense with work from the factory.
"What do you expect in Monaco?"
—The car will be fast in Monaco, I'm happy with the pace in the third sector.
But I have to improve to get the most out of the car in one lap, when you push with confidence it is crucial in Monaco and I am not 100% in that regard.
I'm still cautious about my homework more than the car.
I trust the car, now I have to do my homework.
It depends on me.