"Aston Martin could finish in second place" - Mercedes boss fears increasing competition from Fernando Alonso and Co.

Ahead of the 2023 season, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckons Aston Martin could fare well after their impressive results in pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Wolff thinks they could end up as high as second place if things go well. Meanwhile, Aston Martin said earlier that they are mainly concerned about themselves in terms of performance.

While Wolff is not too confident about Mercedes' performance against their competitors, he sounds pretty optimistic for Mike Krack's team. GPBlog.com quoted him:

"According to our calculations, Aston Martin could finish in second place."

Aston Martin have been hyped up for the upcoming season with their AMR23 giving some extraordinary performances during pre-season testing (in contrast to how they performed last season).

With Fernando Alonso in the seat, they're expected to benefit from his experience. The Spaniard has put in impressive lap times. Although they remain largely irrelevant during testing, it was still quite awe-inspiring to see Aston Martinon the top of the list.

With this kind of progress, the team expects a higher finish this time than they had in 2022.

---

Aston Martin clear air about Lance Stroll's replacement in Bahrain and future races

Right before the pre-season testing started, Lance Stroll, Alonso's teammate, suffered an accident while biking, putting his participation in Bahrain in doubt.

That has been a huge topic of discussion if he will be racing in Bahrain, and who would replace him, if he is not fit. There were reports about Sebastian Vettel making a return after retiring last season, but as revealed by the team, Felipe Drugovich could come in for Stroll.

Aston Martin announced:

"If you have watched, there was not one wheel lock; there was not an apex missed or something like that. So we’re very happy with what he has done. The team will continue to give Lance every chance to race, pending recovery from his injury. Should he not be fit to compete, then Felipe will drive the AMR23 alongside Fernando (Alonso).”

Expectations continue to rise for Aston Martin as they head into their third F1 season. Alonso, too, has hopes for the team to perform better than they did in the last two and rise up the midfield.