"James Allison knows Fernando Alonso can outperform his machinery": Fans react to Mercedes director commending the Aston Martin star

F1 fans have commended Mercedes technical director James Allison for praising Fernando Alonso while assessing the performance of the W15 ahead of the first race of the season in Bahrain.

The Aston Martin driver had an solid pre-season testing as he showed consistent pace throughout his one-and-half days. His race run on the final day compelled many in the F1 world to take the Silverstone-based team seriously ahead of the 2024 season.

As per Formu1a.uno, Mercedes technical director gave a tentative pecking order heading into the Bahrain Grand Prix and praised Fernando Alonso. He said:

“Red Bull are in front. If you look at their race run, it’s quite fierce. Behind, there are several strong teams in the chasing back – Ferrari seems OK, we [Mercedes] seem OK. Alonso just did a pretty fair run today. That would be my guess of the three chasers.

“In precisely what order, I’m not sure. I think we looked slightly better on the long runs but a little behind Ferrari on the single-lap stuff. I think a lot will depend on who has a good week between now and then.”

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Allison's comments about Alonso on X. One fan claimed that the Mercedes man knows about the two-time world champion's abilities in the car, saying:

"Allison knows Alonso can outperform his machinery. Especially being part of Ferrari in 2014."

Here are some more reactions:

Some fans, meanwhile, were not convinced by his analysis of the pecking order:

Fernando Alonso speaks about putting himself in a 'good position to negotiate' amid Mercedes rumors

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, recently said he is in a 'good position' to negotiate about his future in the sport amid Mercedes links.

Speaking with Autosport, the Aston Martin driver said:

"In my case, it's very interesting because I have, I think, a good position to negotiate. But I want to at least do the first couple of races without thinking too much. I want to see myself in a new season. It's going to be the longest-ever season in Formula 1 [at 24 races]."

Fernando Alonso also spoke about changing his travel schedule to conserve energy for the latter half of the season.

"I want to change a little bit some of the travel schedule and things to be really efficient this year and arrive with high energy at the end of the year," he added. "So, a couple of things that are my main focus now are not so much next year."