AMR23 is really fast, it’s hard to argue with that

The world of Formula 1 and fans are waiting for a thrill: the Aston Martin team has added so much with its new car and Fernando Alonso at the wheel that it is considered the best in the middle of the pack, and it is possible that it can even push Mercedes.

Of course, so far only pre-season testing and Friday practice in Bahrain are behind, which put Alonso on the first line of protocol, but this cannot be considered an accident.

It is felt that interest in Aston Martin and the expectations that come with it have grown strongly, and Pedro de la Rosa, who acts as the team’s ambassador, called what is happening “euphoria”: “Is this a real picture? I don’t know, I like to think so, but we have to be realistic, it is my job to contain this euphoria that is now being observed, but it turns out to be impossible.

Mark Hughes, an expert at The Race, believes the excitement about the Silverstone team’s progress is fully justified. Even before winter testing began, the results of the aerodynamic studies she led, which created the AMR23, were rumored to be more than encouraging. Some numbers were called, about which an unnamed leader of a major team said: “If the numbers are right, it will be a very fast car.”

Therefore, it cannot be said that they were surprised in the paddock when the AMR23 turned out to be about on par with Ferrari in terms of speed, but ahead of Mercedes, and Red Bull was not much behind.

This was confirmed in Friday practice: in the first session Alonso showed the second fastest time and in the evening he was the fastest. Perhaps he was able to show such a result in a situation where Max Verstappen was not entirely satisfied with the balance of his RB19, but Aston Martin’s speed cannot be underestimated.

Compared to the AMR23, the Ferrari car seems a little less stable in the early phase of corners and works worse with the front tyres, so the Scuderia’s pace on long run circles drops more noticeably than its main rivals. Things are even worse for Mercedes so far, and Lewis Hamilton showed only an 8th fastest time in one fast lap, losing about 0.5 seconds to Alonso, after which he made no secret of his mood.

Also after the results of Friday’s practice it is worth noting the confident work of Nico Hulkenberg, behind the wheel of Haas showed the 5th fastest time yesterday, allowing him to squeeze between two Ferrari drivers.

Interestingly, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine A523 was faster than both Mercedes drivers on Friday, both in the long lap sequence and in qualifying. But the McLaren car is still not very good to drive, and Lando Norris had to put in a lot of effort and use all his experience to show time around Hamilton’s level.