Fernando Alonso believes Alpine will have a fast car this weekend in Monaco, but the Spaniard says he still needs to acquire the confidence to match the performance of his A521.
Alpine has steadily improved since the start of the season, with Esteban Ocon qualifying and finishing among the top ten at each of the last three races.
The Frenchman has so far outpaced his illustrious teammate as Alonso continues to build his confidence in Alpine's A521. The two-time world champion says that process is still ongoing, but insists he'll need to get on top of things in the principality on Saturday in order to secure a good on race day.
"I think the car will be fast in Monaco," Alonso said ahead of this weekend's round. "I feel good about the performance there.
"One of the things that I need to get better for sure is to extract the maximum of the car in one lap. I’m not 100% on that at the moment.
"In Monaco, it is crucial that I get the maximum out of the car on Saturday. So I remain a little more cautious because of my own work rather than because of my own car.
"Let’s say I feel confident in the car, now I need to work on myself to be comfortable on that side as well. It is up to me, so let’s try."
Alpine's upgrade package implemented at Portimão delivered some good benefits that were put to good use in Spain where Alonso gained access to Q3 for the second time this year.
"I think we had some good answers on some of the performance of the car and performance of the competitors," Alonso said.
"I was more or less comfortable. We have more pace in qualifying than the race. I think the racing was even tighter than qualifying as it seems things were very, very similar on the performance of the other cars."
Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski believes Monaco's high-downforce track will cater to the A521's qualities, but he's suggests his drivers' talent could also deliver an edge.
"The A521 is generally better suited to low-speed corners, even if we’ve improved it since the beginning of the season across medium and high-speed corners too," he said.
"Generally, though, Monaco is all about downforce, mechanical grip and traction, but also places a high emphasis on the drivers.
"It’s a circuit where it takes drivers time to get used to driving so close to the guardrails and finding the ability within themselves to push the limits a little bit further in every single lap, but without exceeding them as the sanction is immediate.
"It’s a track where the driver really makes a difference in Formula 1."
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