Fernando Alonso | Alonso triggers enthusiasm with the Aston Martin

by time news

the truth hour has arrived. After three months of waiting the F1 the curtain rises this weekend in Bahrainwhere the only test batch of the preseason was held last week, and with eyes on Fernando Alonso and his brand new Aston Martino. The performance of the AMR23 has raised enormous expectations and in Bahrain this has to be achieved with results.

The Asturian driver has made his life racing and, despite the passing of the years, he has not lost his hunger to compete. After two years at Alpine where he did not get the performance or the expected results, start a new challenge. Fernando embarks on the adventure in the Silverstone team to lead a very ambitious projectwithin a structure immersed in a process of change, with the construction of a new factory and a new wind tunnel.

The preseason of Aston Martin has aroused enthusiasm and large doses of hope and optimism. It will take a few races to get the most out of the car, as with the rest of the grid, but Alonso has shown speed, consistency and reliability in Sakhir. On the third and last day of testing, he said goodbye with a long run to frame, a mock race that caught the attention not only of the press but of all his rivals. One thing seems clear, that the AMR23 is very different from its predecessor and evolves accordingly.

Good sensations

The possibilities of Fernando’s new car go by word of mouth. Many, especially among his rivals, see him as a serious podium candidate at the Bahrain GP, ​​which will take place on Sunday March 5 at 16:00. The two-time Spanish champion rode like clockwork in the three days of testing – on Saturday he rode solo, while on Thursday and Saturday he alternated driving with Drugovich – and one of the most notable aspects was that the tire degradation was better than what the team itself expected.

The time did not reflect these good feelings, although at this point it was not important since there was no control over the weight, the fuel load and the condition of the tires that were used -yes of the compounds- and the doubts of some and others have yet to dissipate. Checo Pérez was the fastest at the controls of the Red Bull and Fernando Alonso placed ninth, with a reference time of 1:31.450.

The data shows that andThey are less than half a second off Red Bull’s pace in qualifying and less than a second in race simulations, anticipating that grand prix performance may be better because the car has low tire degradation.

On the other hand, it is necessary to highlight the rapid adaptation of the Asturian to his new environment, with a car that apparently responded positively to the changes that were being made to it, and the combination of this, together with some fast laps and striking batches, have led that part of the paddock considers that the team of Alonso is just behind the big three to face the first race and very close to Mercedes.

The most important question that Aston Martin has for the Bahrain GP is who will be the driver accompanying Fernando Alonso. Lance Stroll already missed the Sakhir test after having to undergo surgery after a bicycle accident in Spain and the team has already revealed that if the Canadian is not fit, the replacement will be Felipe Drugovich, reserve driver for the Silverstone team along with Stoffel Vandoorne and dispelling the rumors that pointed to a possible return of Sebastian Vettel.

positive solutions

Fernando Alonso, in the balance of the test, pointed out that “They were very positive days for the team. Now we have to get the car as quick as possible for the first race of the week, but we feel there is a long way to go from AMR23 as we haven’t had enough time in testing. We are going step by step and the team is working non-stop”.

The Asturian regretted not having been able to count on Lance Stroll during the tests, since the development of the car would have been faster, noting that “it hurt us not to be able to count on Lance. Some of my comments or feelings with the car we don’t know if it is me in a new team and in a new car or it is an Aston Martin issue that he can detect as well. They are things like the brake pedal or the power steering, I don’t know if they are inherited or new things, we hope that he can be with us soon ”.

Finally, on the positive side, he highlighted that “the car felt good during the three days. We did quite different experiments and positive solutions came back. It became clear that we needed to change our philosophy compared to last year’s car and that is a concern, as we will need some races to optimize the whole packagee”.

Alonso’s umpteenth challenge

Fernando Alonso undertakes a new challenge in 2023. And, like the previous ones, it will not be easy at all. The Asturian, 22 years after his debut with Minardi, faces his twentieth season in Formula One with a team that has been completely renovated to make a leap in quality on the grid.

Alonso, at 41, is the oldest driver on the grid, and holds the record for the longest career in Formula 1, being the driver who has contested the most Grands Prix in the history of the category (356). Since his return to F1 in 2021 after his hiatus between 2018 and 2020, he has been accumulating other records: He is the driver with the most laps completed and the one who has done the most kilometers in an F1 car.

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