Fernando Alonso feels that he is performing at his best level "physically" as the 2022 F1 season passes the halfway mark. The Spaniard has consecutively scored points at the last six races on the calendar, and currently sits P10 in the World Championship with 29 points. Alpine have also managed to draw even with McLaren as they battle for fourth in the Constructors' standings, and Alonso is looking forward to one of the team's home races at the upcoming French Grand Prix. "It’s always fun to race in front of the French fans," Alonso said ahead of the event. "Half of the team is based in France and so it’s good to have a home race for us at Circuit Paul Ricard."
The "challenges" that Circuit Paul Ricard poses
With the Circuit Paul Ricard returning to the Formula 1 calendar in 2018 – Alonso's final season before he took a two-year hiatus from the sport – the two-time World Champion admits that he does not have that much experience of the track. In the races that he has competed in there, Alonso has noticed that perfecting the car's set-up is particularly important. "It's a fun track and whilst I've raced at various French race circuits, I’ve only competed here twice before in Formula 1," he explained. "It's a challenging circuit to get the car set-up right, with quite a few high-speed sections followed by various low- and medium-speed corners. "We seemed quite competitive at various circuits this year, so hopefully we can keep this up at Paul Ricard."
Alonso confident for remainder of 2022
In terms of his own performance, Alonso feels that he has physically been at his best recently. However, he acknowledges that Alpine need to turn their fortunes around after suffering from some bad luck on more than one occasion in 2022. If this can be done, Alonso believes that the team can continue to work their way forwards. "I feel I am physically driving better than ever!" he commented. "Luck has been our biggest issue. It has often escaped us at crucial moments this season. "If we can turn this around and get the luck that we deserve as a team, then I'm confident we can score big points and start to climb both Drivers' and Constructors' standings."
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