Fernando Alonso admits Alpine are behind their midfield rivals heading into the new Formula 1 season, based on testing. 

It was a solid if unspectacular three days for the rebranded Renault outfit in Bahrain, as they completed just shy of 400 laps but sat eighth in the list of fastest laps by each team.

Afterwards, Spanish journalist Antonio Lobato quoted Alonso as describing the A521 as "absolutely reliable but a bit slow", and the double world champion conceded it will take some time to get fully on top of the car.

“We had a good testing session,” he told Spain's Sport.es.

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“We are focused on our work programme and you don’t give so much importance to the times or to the rivals. We still need to work, to understand some things about the car.

“The performance we see at Enstone needs to be unlocked on track, but we will try to put on a show. Little by little.”

Lobato also reported Alonso as saying Q3 would be "very difficult" for Alpine, and the 39-year-old spoke of the challenges his new team will face in 2021. 

“How the midfield is right now, it is very competitive, and it’s something that we are aware of,” he said.

“We need to maximise and we need to make perfection every weekend if we want to score good points.

“Then another challenge, but not only for me, is going to be for everybody in the team, and everybody in the paddock, will be the 23 races," he added.

“We have to try to save energy when you can during the year, even in June, August, September, even if you feel fresh, the more you save the better you will be in November, December.”

Speaking to the media during pre-season testing, Alonso also spoke of his decision to return to F1 after two years away, competing in other categories.

“The main (reason) why I am here or came back was because I felt that I was at my best in the last couple of years… I felt that I was driving better than ever,” he explained.

“I had to make a decision on what was the next challenge after Le Mans, Indy [500], Dakar all the things that I tried.

“I thought that being at my best now, maybe Formula 1 was the place to be and I have time in the future to rethink some of the challenges that were not completed. That’s the main thing. I felt I had something to do here again.”