Fernando Alonso has rejected comparisons between himself and the other F1 drivers who appear to have struggled since switching teams. The double World Champion - who made a comeback to the sport with Alpine following two years away - was one of several big names to make a move for the 2021 season, with the others being Daniel Ricciardo to McLaren, Sebastian Vettel to Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz to Ferrari. All four seemed to be outperformed by their teammates initially, though Vettel and Sainz have since seen their fortunes improve. Alonso, however, thinks that his return to the sport has been going better than some have suggested, and also believes that comparing him to others in a similar situation is unfair. "I was not too unhappy in some of the other races that, from the general opinion, were very bad," Alonso told Motorsport.com. "I don't think that they were that bad. "In Barcelona, obviously, we were on one stop, and we didn’t perform there. But we were more or less at the same pace as Esteban [Ocon], in Monaco, and I think I finished two seconds behind him. "This thing kept repeating every weekend, and the opinion was like I was struggling a lot, even comparing me with other drivers that changed team this year, like Daniel or whatever. "But I didn't think that was fair, because I think there is a very big difference on their struggles compared to what was I was having. I was not worried. I knew it was just a matter of time." Alonso had his best result of the season so far at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a sixth-place finish, though some of the team's rivals - such as Ferrari - appeared to have an advantage at the track as well as during the previous race weekend in Monaco. However, Alonso believes that the calendar's return to non-street circuits will better reflect the true performance order. "On the street circuits, the tyre preparation is helping somehow our opponents in a way to raise their performance. They are fighting for pole position now, but we don't believe that is the improvement of the car: it is just how they switch the tyres on for a street circuit. "But there are no more street circuits after this. Even Singapore is gone. So maybe we come back to more normal performance."
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