Sawt Falasteen - Alonso 'confident' of Alpine's F1 chances

Spaniard Alonso, 40, joined the French team last term in their maiden campaign as they finished fifth in the constructors' standings.

Alonso was tenth in the drivers standings last season, a place above French team-mate Esteban Ocon, who won August's Hungarian Grand Prix.

"It's good to be back and I've been working hard to be ready for the new season," Alonso said.

"The car looks fantastic with the new regulations in place and I like the new livery.

"We have a new engine and we're confident we had a good development in place for this new generation of car," he added.

Formula One is introducing a host of new rules for the coming year including a tyre size change and a two-part pre-season test.

This week Alonso and Ocon take part in testing in Barcelona before further sessions in Bahrain between March 10-12.

The campaign starts on the weekend of March 20 in the Middle East with Alpine, formerly Renault, racing in their new "A522" car.

"We won't know where everyone stands until Bahrain, but we're excited to take the car for its first spin in testing this week," Alonso said.

"I hope the new regulations have worked and we get more exciting wheel-to-wheel racing this year," he added.

T.Samara--SF-PST