“This is just the start” - F1 driver Fernando Alonso reveals Aston Martin’s car will change dramatically as the season progresses [Exclusive]

Fernando Alonso is keeping his feet on the ground before making any bold claims about the Aston Martin F1 team's progress in the tests, as he spoke at the first press conference of 2023 ahead of the Bahrain GP.

The Spaniard felt they had a better platform to develop and that the car was definitely better than its 2022 predecessor.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he was ready to fight for another championship, the Spaniard replied:

“I don’t know, as I said before. I didn’t change my thoughts in the last seven minutes. So I have no idea as to where we are in terms of positions but with this car the aim was to make a step forward which I think we did and it was very encouraging - the results from the tests and the feeling from the car but this is just the start."

"This car will change dramatically during the season and that’s the plan. Again I heard from the team that two thirds of this car will change during the season so we going to have a good baseline and good platform to develop the car during 2023 and maybe fight for something bigger next year. But step by step.”

Without giving away much, Fernando Alonso was cautiously optimistic about Aston Martin’s improvement in 2023. While there has been chatter throughout the preseason test that they were competitive enough to fight up front, the Spaniard believes it is difficult to decide whether they will really challenge the top three.

Alonso was encouraged by the results from the tests but at the same time revealed that their car is expected to develop and evolve further throughout the season. Subtly hinting that title fights might be for 2024, he felt it was important for the team to progress gradually.

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Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin won’t have a clear idea until a few races into the season

Explaining that the first three tracks have very different characteristics from each other, Fernando Alonso believes determining Aston Martin’s position in the pecking order might take a few races into the season. The Spanish double champion feels they are better off than 2022 but is clueless about what their rivals' true pace is.

Asked if Aston Martin’s long run pace was an indicator of their competitiveness, Fernando Alonso replied:

“Yeah. We don’t know what others were doing so you concentrate on the program and let’s see after this race or basically after Jeddah or Australia. I think very different circuits you’ll see more where everybody is. I think we came to make a step forward compared to last year."

"Obviously the Aston Martin went through some difficulties with the car and some things they discovered through 2022. So this year we have better baseline and we are happy so far.”

According to analysts and TV pundits, if the data from Aston Martin's long-run pace in the preseason tests were to be analyzed, they were as good as Ferrari and definitely in the mix at the front. But as Fernando Alonso mentioned, it is still hard to determine their position or draw any conclusions as most teams were masking their true potential during the test.