During qualifying for the
Bahrain Grand Prix,
Fernando Alonso made his highly anticipated return to an official
Formula 1 session. Despite the Alpine F1 car seemingly struggling in practice, Alonso managed to get the car into Q3.
Old v New
Alonso has set the tone in his teammate duel with
Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman didn't escape from Q1 and will start Sunday's Grand Prix from 16th place. The two-time World Champion ensured that Alpine have something to cheer about, but admits he isn't entirely confident with the rear.
"The weekend has been difficult. I lack confidence a little bit on the rear end of the car. Braking performance was also very different compared to the test," Alonso said in a conversation with Sky Sports.
"The first qualifying of the year so you don't really know what to expect but I am happy with ninth. Definitely, I was hoping a lot for qualifying. The wind changing and the cooler conditions - I was hoping it would suit my driving style."