Alonso: “Overtaking remains difficult”
2022 saw the emergence of a whole series of new regulations aimed at making duels more exciting on the track. However, despite the systems put in place to facilitate overtaking, Fernando Alonso believes that overtakes are still not an easy feat.
The 2022 regulations have imposed a different aerodynamic support on the single-seaters. The innovations should allow the cars to follow each other without the drivers losing too much downforce due to the dirty air discharged by the leading car.
After the first Grand Prix of the season, many drivers were able to observe the effects of these measures. Most of them admitted the improvement in on-track chasing. The question now is whether this is enough to facilitate overtaking. Alpine driver Fernando Alonso gave his opinion.
« Following each other is definitely easier. We had already observed it during the trials, but overtaking is not as simple as what we see on TV, explained the Spaniard. « I think all the overtakings we saw [during the Bahrain GP] were due to one of the cars having better pace on fresh tires than the others. I encountered cars that were two seconds faster than me, but I was able to overtake them in a few corners. But I also saw others who were two seconds faster than me and they passed me in two or three corners, he continued.
Alonso prefers, however, to wait a few races before drawing any conclusions. Unlike previous seasons, it is more difficult to overtake despite the cars being close.
“I think that the choice of tires is the most important factor, not the pursuit. So we’ll see, we have to do more races,” stated Fernando Alonso.
