Alan Permane, Alpine sporting director, appreciated the maturity of Fernando Alonso. He applauded how the Spanish handled his Formula 1 comeback.
Permane acknowledged that despite tough start, Alonso looked inside rather than throwing “tanrums or hissy fits”.
Alonso, two-time world champion, announced retirement at the end of 2018. He came back to his original, championship winning, squad which has renamed itself to Alpine.
Alonso had a harsh comeback to F1 and scored only in two out of five races. He could not match his team-mate Esteban Ocon in qualifying.
However, he fought back and found himself in a better form. He managed to score in all of the last three races. He fetched the sixth position in Baku, which was the best place he scored since Australia in 2018.
Alonso also spoke about his need for more time to get himself accustomed to F1 again. Rather than putting all blame on the team, he chose to shoulder the responsibility.
Permane was fond of Alonso’s attitude toward the sport. He praised how he handled the situation and did not boil himself over the failure. Instead, he chose to stand up to it and perform better.
“I think the process is like anything in Formula 1. There is no magic bullet to any of this – to finding downforce, to finding horsepower, to the drivers finding where they are,” Permane said.
“It’s just hard work, and he works hard. He worked hard in pre-season. It was a bit of a poor start, that’s for sure. There were some struggles, and instead of having any tantrums or hissy fits or anything, he just looked to himself.
“He never once blamed the car or the team. He said, ‘it’s me, I need to improve, I need to do this, I need to be better’.
“In fairness to him, that’s what he’s done. I don’t think he’s finished that process yet. He’s still there, he’s still building his team with his guys around him, and doing a great job.”
Alonso took the lead at Styrian Grand Prix last weekend and turning the tables on Ocon. He managed to reach Q3 in qualifying, while Ocon dropped out in Q1. The Spaniard finished ninth, claiming two points, and the French finished 14th.
Alonso found the Q2 beautiful and admitted that he is enjoying his comeback more than expected.
Permane spoke to Alonso after the qualifying and explained how his positivity and encouragement would help the whole Alpine team.
“I said to him afterwards, ‘don’t underestimate what that radio message will mean being broadcast, everyone in Enstone and everyone in Viry is hearing that’,” said Permane.
“That just makes their weeks of work, their hard work, worthwhile.
“To hear a driver who’s done a good lap being really happy with it and hear how motivated he is and that sort of thing. It’s going well.”
