Red Bull chief advisor picks surprise midfield team to challenge Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin in Jeddah

Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has said that Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso could be challenged by Alpine during the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah this weekend.

After Friday's free practice sessions, Red Bull looked well clear of the field and will start the race as the favourites. Aston Martin might face competition for the podium spot from Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine after their long-run pace simulations in FP2.

Speaking to Sky Germany, Marko said:

"Ferrari have a little more in the engine. Behind us, at least it’s going to be an exciting fight between Alpine and Fernando Alonso – and to some extent Ferrari. We are satisfied, and we have found the right adjustment for the car. As for the choice of tyres, we still have to take a look at what is better for the race. That’s why we put Verstappen and Perez on different compounds with the long runs.”

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"Mercedes say that 50 percent of their car is ours, and Red Bull say that 50 percent is theirs" - Fernando Alonso

Many teams have accused Aston Martin of copying their concept after their rise to the top of the field this season. Fernando Alonso said that both Mercedes and Red Bull are fighting over whose concept the British team copied.

Speaking to PlanetF1, he said:

“Visuallym they are differentm and an example of this is that Mercedes say that 50 percent of their car is ours (engine, gearbox and suspension) and Red Bull say that 50 percent is theirs. … and there can be no two more different concepts than those two. That clearly indicates that neither of the two theories is true."

Alonso continued:

"We have a different concept than those two cars, although it is true that visually all the cars look a bit alike. If you take the black cars, well, the Ferrari, the Haas and the Alfa Romeo also look very similar to each other. I would say that the car most similar to ours, to tell you the truth, is the Alpine, with the sidepods with those tunnels."

It will be interesting to see if Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso can build on their pace from Friday's free practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The team will hope that they are closer to Red Bull in the main race so that they can pounce on any opportunity.