Fernando Alonso had a disappointing comeback into the F1 fold in Bahrain. A DNF that was caused due to a break issues meant that heading into Imola, Alonso is yet to open his points tally for the season. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that getting into the top ten is the main priority for the two-time world champion in the second round of the 2021 F1 season.

The Spaniard is expecting nothing less than an intense mid-field battle. But he is keen on breaking his points drought having understood the car better after the season opener.

He said (translated by Google), “I want to score the first points of the year on Sunday and hope that most of my bad luck for 2021 is behind me.

“We are learning more and more about this car and it will be interesting to see how very different weather than in Bahrain will affect the performance of the various racing cars. 

“Once again, I assume that there will be a high level of performance in the midfield, with a few tenths of a second quickly making up numerous places.”

Achieving his target will be easier said than done. After the first race, it doesn’t appear that Alpine are among the strongest of mid-field contenders. However, with a driver of the caliber of Alonso in the cockpit, you wouldn’t want to bet against them.

Fernando Alonso reflects on the Bahrain Grand Prix

Speaking about the season opener, and the lessons learned from it, Fernando’s biggest takeaway was more personal of sorts.

The Spaniard said, “Even if the Bahrain weekend didn’t end as I had hoped, I was still able to enjoy it.

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“I had missed the feeling of how the adrenaline starts to flow when it comes to the final training and then into the race. It cannot be compared with anything. We just weren’t lucky in the Grand Prix, but we had some nice duels.”

Alonso, however, isn’t the only Alpine driver yet to score a point. His teammate Esteban Ocon also had a race to forget. The Frenchman ended up in P13 after a collision with Sebastian Vettel. But it wasn’t as if he was challenging for a place in the top 10, anyway. So he too will hope for a lot better come Sunday.

But the joint failure of both drivers leaves Alpine already 18 points off McLaren, whom they expected to do battle with for the ‘best of the rest title.’

However, all is not lost. Their other mid-field rivals struggled too. Thus the door is still wide open for the French team to turn their season around. Will Imola be the starting point for that? Tune in to the race on April 18 to find out.

Fernando Alonso “Aware” of Alpine’s Painful Reality Says Ex F1 Champion Prost