Alonso: Monaco podium could turn into torture

Fernando Alonso started from the pit lane at Imola and hoped to make up positions because the safety car came onto the track, but this did not happen. When it became clear that there was no longer a chance to earn points, Aston Martin switched to collecting all kinds of information, turning the race into a test session.

Fernando Alonso: “In the race our only hope was the safety car on track, with red flags and things like that. That’s why I started with Soft tires in case something were to happen. I still had Medium and Hard tires at my disposal, which are the most suitable for the race. But I started from the back, nothing happened the whole race, so the race became a test for us.

But this development of events was expected. Unfortunately, in Imola you can only count on a safety car, red flags or something else that diversifies the race somewhat. Nothing of the sort happened.

I was a bit bored at the back because I was constantly stuck in traffic. We tried different strategies and made several pit stops to gather as much information as possible for the team. But as a racer I couldn’t influence anything.

After one of the pit stops my left front brake caught fire, but I was sure the fire would go out as soon as I picked up speed and the ventilation would do its job. But Imola has the longest pit lane, which you drive through with the speed limiter! So while driving it felt like the flames were burning for too long, but I was confident that everything would be fine.”

Commenting on the technical innovations the team brought to Imola, Fernando said: “We experimented a lot during the first training. In the second practice, Lance’s car was in a different configuration than mine. In the third session of the free training, the experiments continued.

During the race another experiment took place – we decided to take this opportunity when starting from the pit lane. I think it’s too early to draw conclusions. Rather, this question should be addressed to the team: they have all the information at their disposal and can provide details.

The car felt like it drove the same way during the race as it did during the other sessions of the weekend. But of course the team has all the data and tools to better analyze the speed of the car. Let’s see what the numbers say and if we can find a direction to work in the next races.

At the moment, the top three teams are slightly ahead of the rest. And even RB has good speed: Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth in the Miami sprint and Yuki Tsunoda was fast all weekend at Imola.

We have to keep working. The density of the battle is so high that if you don’t improve your car by two or three tenths every two or three Grand Prix, you will fall back into the middle group.”

Asked about Aston Martin’s chances in Monaco, Fernando said: “It all depends on the car. If things aren’t going so well, trying to go fast on this track will be torture. Therefore, first of all we must choose the right settings.

You have to get the most out of the car and concentrate on qualifying. I think that during the race, just like in Imola, no one will overtake anyone. Therefore, like our rivals, we will concentrate all our efforts on Saturday. I hope we can do a perfect lap next weekend.”