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Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso disagreed on which driver had the faster car in the 2023 Australian GP. The Mercedes driver started the race in P3, ahead of Fernando Alonso.
With Max Verstappen establishing a lead in the race, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were engaged in a battle for second place.
Alonso attacked Hamilton for the entirety of the race but was unable to consistently stay within the DRS zone. Because of this, Lewis was able to fend off the Spaniard and secure a P2 finish.
When asked after the race which car was faster between the Aston Martin and the Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton felt it was the Spaniard's car. He said:
"I think Fernando's a little bit quicker this afternoon. I mean, he was in my tow, so I think we were probably slightly quicker on the straight and he was quicker through all the corners. So I think we definitely have some performance to find. It definitely wasn’t easy keeping him at bay, and keeping them out of the DRS zone."
Hamilton added:
"But it was really quite interesting, just to see where we were, where we were lacking, and where we were good. And so there's lots of positives to take from today but we do naturally need to add on some performance. I mean, they've been ahead the past two races but for us to somehow still finish ahead is pretty awesome. So I'll definitely take it.
Fernando Alonso disagrees with Lewis Hamilton
Fernando Alonso did not agree with the seven-time world champion as he pointed out that the was unable to get close to the Mercedes driver. When asked about Hamilton's comments stating that the Aston Martin was faster, Alonso said:
"I think when you do 50 laps within two seconds of the car in front, it’s normally you have a little bit more. If you have a little bit of clean air, probably you can get two or three tenths out of that lap time. But in the other end, I could not get any closer than that. So, I think we were very similar."
At the end of the day, the podium featured three multiple world champions in Hamilton, Verstappen, and Alonso. For a season that seemed daunting at the start due to Red Bull's domination, the competitive Australian GP was a refreshing change of pace.
