"I do not know how to do it quickly"

He did not stand there: Fernando Alonso at his NASCAR test.

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Fernando Alonso had a lot of fun during his NASCAR trials in Bahrain on Monday – but also a lot of question marks on his face. As the Spaniard said after the car exchange with Jimmie Johnson, his test drive in the beefy V8 car in the US would have been "as expected". That means: the Chevrolet car would have a lot of steam under the hood, but it was "technically very simple".

"I recently drove an H circuit in 1999," Alonso marveled at a four-speed front car, equipped with steel brakes and a total weight of 1,451 kilograms. For comparison: in Formula 1, he was on the road with eight speeds, carbon fiber brakes and 728 kilos. "The car has a lot of power given its low grip and it's very fun to move it on the track."

Incredible: Although belonging to the NASCAR series with 5.8-liter V8 engines, generating 725 horsepower, Alonso considers that the noise is similar to that of the higher category. "The car is hard to control," he says. "In first, second and third gear, the wheels go by and I did not know whether it would be better to accept it and go all the way or to dose the pedal."

He was "very far" from a good lap, said Alonso. Especially at the beginning of a passage, the car would have felt "terrible" and "terrible". He states: "Even after a full day at the wheel, I do not know how to move such cars quickly." After all, it was enough to make the round of the Bahrain International Circuit in 1: 39.5 minutes – and thus only twelve seconds slower than Sebastian Vettel in his pole time at the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Alonso does not need to be representative: NASCAR champion Johnson himself discovered after a series of installations that his car offered exceptional grip because the tires were designed for other terrains. After all, if not, he is almost exclusively trained on ovals.

Add to that the driving style of a Formula 1 driver who does not work in NASCAR: "You're not used to driving cars that tend to oversee," he says, "at every Once I look in. His company car behaved with a lot of fuel on board differently with little: "The tank is behind the rear axle. As soon as the fuel is burned, the understeer begins. "

Johnson thinks that Alonso would have had a different impression if he had tried NASCAR on his ground. "That would impress him," he is sure. After another test on an oval, he would like to convince Spanish "love". "I do not know why he should refuse." Perhaps because Alonso wants some free time and relaxation after retiring in Formula 1. That's why he would not have planned to return to NASCAR, he said.

However, it was also not expected that Alonso would turn 24 hours after his retirement from the Queen class on a McLaren to fly a series of facilities for Johnson. "It made sense to check that everything is fine," he says with a laugh: "The day after I went down, I sat in the car again at eleven o'clock."

Johnson's performance in the Formula 1 car describes McLaren boss, Zak Brown, as "foolish" – not least because the 43-year-old American had previously had nothing like it. Alonso also speaks of an "impressive" performance. Johnson would have improved with every attempt and would have taken advantage of new tires – something that all novices can not do yet.

Alonso emphasizes that the action also had an athletic value – not for the McLaren team's public relations services. "Normally, you make a half-relay in an exchange of this type and take a nice picture.And here we have a full day of testing."