Alonso: 'Sixth or 15th? We can do both'

A few weeks more and the tests for the start of the new season will begin. It remains to be seen whether Fernando Alonso will be able to attend. The former world champion was injured in Switzerland when he had a cycling accident. He also does not yet dare to say where his team Alpine stands.

The team of Renault will continue this year under the name Alpine. Alonso managed to get a seat there. Yet he finds it difficult to say where the team stands at this moment. "I didn’t start thinking about that yet – I think we are too early into preparations. Maybe after the winter test you can imagine or dream about the first race and where you can be. Right now, I didn’t have any thoughts about that", the Spaniard said on the official Formula One channel.

Close together

When Alonso looks at the other teams, he sees that Mercedes is on top. “I think Mercedes will be in front of everybody, then there will be Red Bull and there will be a close fight between a few teams. Alpine will be within that group of teams and that will be interesting to see who adapts better to the new regulations. I think it will be very tight, so we could be fighting for sixth or seventh on the grid or it could be 15th very easily."

That is why the Spaniard remains cautious. "Realistically, we have to have our feet on the ground. Knowing that even if there are some changes for this year, they are not dramatic, so performance will not be too different compared to last year."