A surprisingly downbeat Fernando Alonso expects Ferrari to be Max Verstappen's primary challenge in Austria

Fernando Alonso expects Ferrari to be more competitive at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria. Based on the history of the circuit, the Spaniard expects the circuit to suit the Maranello team’s car more than them or Red Bull.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the Austrian GP weekend, Fernando Alonso said:

“I think the sprint weekend will not be ideal for us. We still have more time maybe of free practice with our new upgraded car. We still need to understand and optimise the package a little bit and in Austria, obviously with the sprint, we will have only FP1 to do that. But it is what it is."

He added:

"The circuit will be good and maybe better for the package as well, this one with a strange layout, let’s say. Maybe good for Ferrari, historically here as well with a long straight and short corners so maybe Austria we have a little bit more pace.”

Asked in the driver’s press conference whether he could close the gap to Red Bull, he said:

“I don’t know. I think we need to wait for different layouts, different circuits because, as I said, in Barcelona, just two weeks before Canada we were 55 seconds or one minute behind the leader. So, I think it was track-specific. It was a very good weekend for us, but I hope we can close that gap, yes.”

Sceptical about the track layout and sprint format that could mix things up, Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari could be quicker and more competitive at the Austrian circuit. The double champion felt Charles Leclerc’s win last year proves it could be a Ferrari specific track again.

The Aston Martin is scheduled to bring updates to their car in Austria and the Spanish driver was wishful about closing the gap to Red Bull. With only one practice session to understand their car, he believes that it is difficult to predict where they will be in the pecking order.

---

Fernando Alonso hopes the updates on the AMR23 work

Sceptical about the amount of time they will get to test the updates, Fernando Alonso hopes the upgrades on the AMR23 work at the Austrian circuit. The double champion feels the limitation of only one practice session available ahead of the sprint weekend makes it very difficult to estimate their performance in advance.

Speaking about the updates on their car ahead of the Austrian GP, Fernando Alonso said:

“I don't know really. I think we have to see tomorrow in the free practice how the car feels, how competitive we can be this weekend. I think we had different performance in Barcelona and Canada, different feeling with the cars, so yeah, hopefully we are closer to a Canada kind of performance and try to deploy a little bit more of the package."

"Because in Canada, I think the weekend was very short, after the cancellation of FP1. So, it’s going to be a very short weekend here again – only FP1 – but hopefully we can test a few things on the car.”

Only nine points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the driver’s championship, Fernando Alonso is looking forward to targeting second place in the championship. Having scored a podium in six out of the eight races so far, the Spanish driver has been consistent this year.

After the Canadian GP, the double champion was positive about finishing second in the championship and issued a warning to the Mexican.