• Classification It's not heaven, but almost: Fernando Alonso will start fifth in Bahrain

  • Training At Alonso's unexpected party: "It's incredible"

A dozen Bahraini kids set out on a mission.

They are between 10 and 14 years old, they combine marketing from several Formula 1 teams and they run, they run very fast through the wide paddock of the Sakhir circuit.

Their objective is to get the maximum number of pilots to sign their caps.

Apparently, they do not distinguish between

Nyck de Vries

and

Charles Leclerc

, between

Logan Sargeant

and

Checo Pérez

, but

Fernando Alonso

leaves the mixed zone and they leave everything to chase him.

Is rare.

When Alonso was champion they had not been born, in reality they have never seen him celebrate a victory.

So why do they do it?

Because Alonso is the center of attention before the race this Sunday in Bahrain (4:00 p.m., DAZN).

Nobody moves so many televisions or so many followers, even more than the champion

Max Verstappen

.

"Ferdinand!

Greets!

We are Asturians!" shouts a fan from the VIP area, above the garages, and Alonso tries to greet his compatriots, but as he walks

Nico Rosberg

is asking him questions for Sky, a dozen more journalists chase him and the kids They ask him to please, please, sign their caps.

In the end they succeed, just before the Spaniard gets into his booth.

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At Alonso's unexpected party: "It's incredible"

  • Drafting: JAVIER SÁNCHEZ (Special envoy) Bahrain

At Alonso's unexpected party: "It's incredible"

"It's almost a dream.

Eight months ago when I signed for Aston Martin everything looked much worse, in winter I did not quite trust the tests and now I have been able to verify that the good feelings were true.

Even when Q1 and Q2 passed, I expected a reality check, but it has not been like that.

We are with those ahead.

I still have to pinch myself”, commented Alonso after placing fifth on the grid in Bahrain.

In the first race of the year he will start in the third row, only behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Checo Pérez, in the first row, and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, in

second

.

In Q3, Alonso, in fact, was close to snatching fourth position from his compatriot, but he passed him at the last moment, with the timer already at zero.

In any case, the classification served to place the candidates for the World Cup after the illusions, the rumors, the forecasts of the preseason.

Red Bull confirmed its dominance, Ferrari corroborated its speed despite the doubts that it maintains in the race and Mercedes showed that it was feinting, that it looks more than what it hinted at in winter.

George Russell

will start sixth after being four hundredths behind Alonso and

Lewis Hamilton

will start just behind the Spaniard.

Trials on the podium

"What podium options do I have?" The Aston Martin driver asked a journalist in the mixed zone and laughed.

"Sorry that I'm laughing, it's been a while since I could really consider that option," Alonso proclaimed, although he later corrected himself and remembered the race in Canada last year, when he started from second place.

That was his best position on the grid in 2022, the only time in the entire season that he started ahead of fifth place that he will enjoy this Sunday.

"This promises, it will be a fun World Cup," Alonso concluded with a constant, shining smile, impossible to hide.

His aura shines again in a Formula 1 that seemed to have already relegated him to the background.

GIUSEPPE CACACEAFP

The Bahrain circuit is decorated with hundreds of thousands of checkered flags and Bahraini flags, millions of LED lights and many, many photos of the drivers.

Along with the advertising of the night concerts - on Friday, DJ Snake, on Saturday,

Craig David

-, the promotion of the Grand Prix appears with a slogan, Follow your champion, and four protagonists: Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton and

Lando Norris

, a reference from McLaren.

The four are everywhere, also around the Ferris wheel and the simulators that delight fans.

But there is no sign of Alonso.

The absence of him on billboards and banners suggest that at 41 years old, perhaps his return among the best was no longer expected.

On the other hand, this Saturday, almost at midnight in the Arabian peninsula, those responsible for the track's podium were testing the videomapping technology for today's post-race ceremony and who they used as an example was Alonso.

For over an hour he appeared with the green Aston Martin in the background as if he were the victor.

"Alonso's position on the grid is great news for Formula 1," Verstappen himself acknowledged, who in recent days, like most young drivers, has repeatedly highlighted "the face of illusion" shown by the Spaniard at all times.

"He can be there in the race," assumed the current champion.

Whatever happens this Sunday in Bahrain, this is the season of Alonso's comeback.

Formula 1 has recovered an idol.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Fernando Alonso

  • Ferrari

  • max verstappen

  • Articles Javier Sanchez