Alonso happy: "It has been a big step forward for us"

Alpine showed itself in a positive light during the free practice sessions in Portugal, but the team was only able to partially translate this into qualifying. While Esteban Ocon set an excellent lap and finished in sixth place, Fernando Alonso had to settle for thirteenth on the grid.

The Spanish driver noticed that his car had undergone some major improvements this weekend. Nevertheless, he did not manage to drive a good qualifying. "I think from FP3 to Q1 we lost quite a lot of the feeling of the car and the performance of the car, so that was a bad thing," Alonso told Motorsport. "We are still investigating what could be the reasons to lose one second on the pace, but there is nothing we can do now."

It doesn't make Alonso any less satisfied with the weekend, however. "The car feels much better and much more alive and really competitive in all the sessions, so it has been a big step forward for us. Maybe we are not in the position that we should be, but at the same time we have the free choice of tyre," said the two-time world champion.

Alonso had a disappointing return to Formula 1 in Bahrain, being forced to retire early. Three weeks later in Imola he scored his first point for Alpine with a tenth place.