Fernando Alonso has scored points in every race this season. At Zandvoort, the Aston Martin driver assessed his performance in 2023 and talked about the challenges the team will face in the upcoming races.
Fernando Alonso: “I spent the break in Spain in my hometown, and not in Ibiza or Mallorca. I was on vacation with my family and preparing for the second half of the season. It was easy enough for me to switch to rest – we all needed some time to catch our breath. Perhaps the mechanics even needed a break more than the drivers, especially after four races in July.
We have a busy schedule ahead of us with double events and races outside Europe. Abu Dhabi is still a long way away, but I feel full of energy.
In a way, the results in the first half of the season were unexpected. The team showed a high level and in the first races we were very strong and used all the possibilities.
In the last races before the break we weren’t competitive enough, but we still kept earning points. We want to get back into competitive shape in the second half of the season.
A very exciting battle is going on behind the Red Bull between Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren, and we want to be part of it until the race in Abu Dhabi. That is the goal for the second half of the year.”
When asked how the team could get back into shape in the first races of the season, Fernando replied: “I don’t know. Everything changes very quickly in Formula 1. The speed in the first races was a surprise to us, but at the same time the team worked very hard over the winter to solve last year’s problems.
This season we had no problems with reliability and strategy in most races, which allowed us to achieve such results. The speed of the car is not enough – you have to do everything right during the race weekend, from the first practice to the race.
We were among the leading teams, but at the same time we try to develop not only on the track, but also beyond it. And now this is the main challenge for Aston Martin.
We hope that the novelties prepared for this phase will allow us to see a clear direction for further development, not only this year, but also next year. I hope the aero upgrades work as expected.
Podium at Zandvoort? I hope so”.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
