{"id":16994,"date":"2023-03-03T18:14:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T18:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/fernando-alonso-is-in-contention-to-win-in-bahrain\/"},"modified":"2023-03-03T18:14:43","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T18:14:43","slug":"fernando-alonso-is-in-contention-to-win-in-bahrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/fernando-alonso-is-in-contention-to-win-in-bahrain\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso is in contention to win in Bahrain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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F<\/span>irst in Free Practice 2, which most closely resembles F1<\/a> qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Fernando Alonso <\/strong>was the fastest driver on the Bahrain circuit. <\/p>\n

According to MARCA, before the start of the session, this was a dress rehearsal for qualifying. <\/p>\n

With a little more fuel and without the full power of the engines, but quite similar for everyone. <\/p>\n

Red Bull<\/a> and Ferrari <\/strong>may have held back more, but Aston Martin showed their strength.<\/p>\n

Alonso <\/strong>is P1 and those three tenths would always leave him at least P5 on the grid for the race, something that will have to be backed up with a lap in Q3 as necessary. <\/p>\n

That the Aston Martin <\/strong>is easy to drive and very fast at Sakhir is no longer denied by anyone in the press room, even the most skeptical reporters, such as the French, possibly hurt by Fernando’s departure from Alpine<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Perhaps they forget that they practically kicked him out in May 2022.<\/p>\n

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On race pace (softs), Alonso <\/strong>was slightly quicker than Verstappen on the same tires (between one and two tenths), with hardly any rear tire degradation and a blistering pace. <\/p>\n

Very late in the race, Max managed to reverse the trend and finish slightly better than the Spaniard, but the gap remains practically even. <\/p>\n

If he’s not the best, he’s between the two best cars. He could be a contender to win on Sunday if the Milton Keynes team have not hidden all their race cards. <\/p>\n

However, that is not to be ruled out, of course.<\/p>\n

Verstappen in traffic<\/h2>\n

Max Verstappen was second on one lap, 0.169 behind Alonso and Checo third, 0.171 behind. <\/p>\n

In the case of the Dutchman, he had some traffic in the first sector and perhaps that deprived him of the best time. <\/p>\n

He is clearly the pole favorite, still. Checo is much closer than last year and maybe this RB19 suits his style better than the old car.<\/p>\n

Leclerc fourth, Sainz stuck in a traffic jam<\/h2>\n

Charles Leclerc <\/strong>was able to sneak into fourth with the SF-23, on a fairly clean lap, but here the step opens up to 0.460 clear of Fernando. <\/p>\n

It sounds like a lot, but no one wants to believe it within the Italian team.<\/p>\n

Carlos Sainz<\/strong>, for his part, got through a very challenging day, in 14th place and out of position altogether. <\/p>\n

A spin in Free Practice 1 and a traffic jam in Free Practice 2 did not let him shine, but on Saturday he will be back among the positions his talent deserves. <\/p>\n

However, Ferrari <\/strong>have extra work to do on Friday night to correct some of their shortcomings.<\/p>\n

Hamilton eighth, Russell 13th<\/h2>\n

Mercedes<\/strong>‘ problems were confirmed, with Hamilton <\/strong>being overtaken by many cars in the midfield, such as Gasly’s Alpine. <\/p>\n

The Silver Arrows will not be in the mix this weekend, from what we saw today. <\/p>\n

Perhaps their start will be even worse than in 2022, although that in itself seems hard to believe. <\/p>\n

Free Practice 2 Bahrain GP 2023<\/h2>\n

1 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1’30″907 22<\/p>\n

2 M. Verstappen Red Bull 1’31″076 +00″169 21<\/p>\n

3 S. Perez Red Bull 1’31″078 +00″171 23<\/p>\n

4 C. Leclerc Ferrari 1’31″367 +00″460 23<\/p>\n

5 N. Hulkenberg Haas 1’31″376 +00″469 22<\/p>\n

6 L. Stroll Aston Martin 1’31″450 +00″543 24<\/p>\n

7 P. Gasly Alpine 1’31″475 +00″568 21<\/p>\n

8 L. Hamilton Mercedes 1’31″543 +00″636 24<\/p>\n

9 L. Norris McLaren 1’31″570 +00″663 24<\/p>\n

10 G. Zhou Alfa Romeo 1’31″586 +00″679 24<\/p>\n

11 E. Ocon Alpine 1’31″608 +00″701 22<\/p>\n

12 V. Bottas Alfa Romeo 1’31″793 +00″886 25<\/p>\n

13 G. Russell Mercedes 1’31″882 +00″975 22<\/p>\n

14 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’31″956 +01″049 25<\/p>\n

15 O. Piastri McLaren 1’32″024 +01″117 24<\/p>\n

16 K. Magnussen Haas 1’32″110 +01″203 16<\/p>\n

17 A. Albon Williams 1’32″440 +01″533 25<\/p>\n

18 Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1’32″525 +01″618 25<\/p>\n

19 N. De Vries AlphaTauri 1’32″605 +01″698 25<\/p>\n

20 L Sargeant Williams 1’32″749 +01″842 26<\/p>\n

Ferrari dominated in the first stint<\/h2>\n

In the first stint of the session, Ferrari used the soft tires at the start, with Leclerc first, ahead of Sainz, just 0.113 behind. By contrast, the two Red Bulls and Alonso did a race-style first stint with the medium tires, so the times were not significant.<\/p>\n

Hamilton was third on the softs, 0.4sec behind the Monegasque, and Gasly and Ocon were partially fourth and fifth in the Alpine, also on softs.<\/p>\n

After the first set of tires<\/h2>\n

1 C. Leclerc Ferrari 1’31″843 6<\/p>\n

2 C. Sainz Ferrari 1’31″956 +00″113 6 <\/p>\n

3 L. Hamilton Mercedes 1’32″272 +00″429 7<\/p>\n

4 P. Gasly Alpine 1’32″368 +00″525 7<\/p>\n

5 E. Ocon Alpine 1’32″415 +00″572 7<\/p>\n

6 S. Perez Red Bull (Medio)1’32″497 +00″654 6<\/p>\n

7 G. Russell Mercedes 1’32″505 +00″662 5<\/p>\n

8 F. Alonso (Medio) Aston Martin 1’32″603 +00″760 6<\/p>\n

9 L Sargeant Williams 1’32″749 +00″906 5<\/p>\n

10 M. Verstappen (Medio) Red Bull 1’32″794 +00″951 4<\/p>\n

11 A. Albon Williams 1’32″939 +01″096 5<\/p>\n

12 L. Norris McLaren (Medio)1’33″117 +01″274 6<\/p>\n

13 Y. Tsunoda AlphaTaur (Medio)i 1’33″548 +01″705 7<\/p>\n

14 L. Stroll Aston Martin 1’33″566 (Medio) +01″723 7<\/p>\n<\/div>\n