Fernando Alonso downplays Aston Martin competition to Red Bull ‘yet’

Fernando Alonso hopes Aston Martin will continue to have tire management as one of their strengths. Speaking to Sportskeeda after the Bahrain GP, the Spanish driver felt their race pace was competitive but downplayed their potential to challenge Red Bull.

Asked by Sportskeeda if tire management factored into their performance in the race, Fernando Alonso replied:

“I think on the tires, yes. It seems that this is one strength of our car, some legacy from last year as well, because Aston Martin was very strong on Sundays last year as well. So yeah, let's try to keep that theme on the car and just improve the Saturdays, which was maybe the weak point of last year for the team. And also yesterday, we were not mega-competitive. So let's work on that.”

Having raced for the Silverstone camp for the majority of his career, Sergio Perez had earlier revealed their ability to be efficient in a race. When quizzed about the Mexican’s assessment, Fernando Alonso agreed that it was one of their strong suits, but felt that qualifying performances were an area of weakness and needed to be focused upon. In both the second free practice race simulation and the main race, the 41-year-old posted similar lap times as the Red Bulls, indicating a lot of potential in the car. The Spaniard admitted they lost time in the melee at the start and could have been closer to the Red Bulls, but not enough to challenge them for their positions.

Asked if he possessed the pace to get closer to the Red Bulls if it weren’t for the poor start, Fernando Alonso said:

“And yeah, on the race pace, obviously we lost time in the first stint. I just sat behind the Mercedes. In the middle stint I have to pass George and Valtteri. And then on the final stint I had to pass Lewis and Carlos. So, all in all, I'm sure that you lose 10 or 15 seconds on all those battles. So if we are 40 seconds behind the leader, we could have been maybe 20 seconds, or 30 seconds. Yeah, not real fight – yet – to Red Bull.”

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Fernando Alonso promises there is more in store for Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso believes their car is yet to unlock its full potential. The two-time champion feels that the AMR23 is a brand new concept, unlike their rivals who have an existing platform to develop upon. Hence, the car is yet to be fully developed and it is only the beginning of their project.

Speaking about the car and expectations for the future, the Aston Martin driver said:

“I think the most important point is that the new Aston Martin is just a new car, a new project. This is just the beginning. You know, this is not the final car, this is just the starting car of this concept that we changed over winter. I think some of the top teams they just kept the philosophy that they had last year. Red Bull or Ferrari they kept more of the same shapes. Just, fine-tuning things and making perfection of that good baseline that they had. For us, it was much more difficult. We have to change 95% of the car. So, I guess there is more to learn from the car, and there is more to come on our side. So full trust in our team, obviously they know what they do. So let’s hopefully improve soon.”

Despite finishing in the top two spots in all three practice sessions, Fernando Alonso only managed to qualify fifth on the grid. After a botched start to the race, the Spaniard had to fight his way back to regain fifth position and progress further to clinch a podium. The two-time champion battled Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz with his unique skillset in wheel-to-wheel race craft. Claiming the 99th podium of his career, the Spanish champion will certainly be a threat to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull this season.