Fernando Alonso was enough three words to define what happens in the Bahrain Grand Prix and, in a way, his moment from the first half of 2024. “We are not competitive,” he said when he got off Aston Martinamr25 after a very difficult second session of free training in the Sakhir circuit. It was already something they knew, but the drama was total by living some first laps in which something miserable could happen.
McLaren dominates in a second session Aciaga for the Asturian.
The comment was clear in the Persian Gulf: “The never seen.” Alonso rolled in one of his first laps when he saw that the steering wheel was released. He had to go long in Bahrain’s last curve and entered the box with emergencies. The Asturian did not hide it. “The car didn’t work. I saw that I didn’t change your marches and I couldn’t communicate with the team. So, in the last curve I got the steering wheel,” he explained.
The car did not work
Fernando Alonso
In the box, his team worked against the clock to fix the direction with his cane. And the FIA was attentive at all times to avoid any extreme danger situation. An error cannot be allowed. “The steering wheel was not coupled with the steering column,” he added. Aston Martin managed to fix it and return to track, but the situation was already dramatic.
The thing did not improve on track. Yes, he left a long batch better than Albon or Bearman signed by averaging a 37,308, but it seems like a mirage to the speed of names like Hadjar or the two Williams, with Sainz improving Albon. “Bahrain’s conditions are not good for us, we had concern about the base and it is something that we have reconfirmed,” he said.
Aston Martin Driver Fernando Alonso of Spain Makes A Pit Stop During the Second Free Practice For The Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, In Sakhir, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The car is good in fast curve, but there is no more improvement. The same that touched the points in Suzuka and added, from Carambola, with Stroll in Australia and China. “We will try to learn, we will fight and in the race everything can happen,” the Asturian closed. As always, he will improve the car with his performance, but he may need heroicity.
We will try to learn, we will fight and in the race everything can happen
Fernando Alonso
After a day that joined the height of the problems. He had lived in the role of a sandwich in his debut with Alpine in Bahrain or those dangerous blows to Grosjean and Raikkonen when he could win a World Cup with Ferrari. But that of a loose steering wheel … not even the oldest of the place remember something like that.