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Fernando Alonso reckons there will be more performances to be unlocked from AMR23 over the course of the season. The Spaniard stated that the whole weekend has been unreal, especially fighting Mercedes and Ferrari for a podium finish.
Speaking to on-site media including Sportskeeda, Fernando Alonso suggested there was more potential in his car, saying:
“Sure we need to wait for Jeddah, Australia, very different tracks. I am curious to see if we can keep this form in different circuits. But also the car at hand that we have right now is a very basic car that we launched and we started the season with this completely new concept on this car. So I think there is a lot more to come in terms of developing this project. So I am optimistic for that.”
Dominating two out of three practice sessions at the top of the timesheets, Fernando Alonso has clearly grabbed eyeballs in Bahrain. However, in qualifying, the Spanish driver was only able to grab fifth place on the grid. Expecting the Red Bulls to be quicker, the two-time F1 champion claimed their calculations in terms of their pole position time were accurate. The 41-year-old feels the entire weekend has been unreal, something he never expected eight months ago when he gambled with the Aston Martin project.
Summarizing his qualifying session, Fernando Alonso said:
“Yeah it was amazing, I mean the whole weekend has been unreal for us. It was too good to be true, every session and every performance of the car. Then in qualifying, our was expectation was to be half a second from Red Bull and I think we are half a second or six the tents from pole position. So it was quite right, I don’t know what even to say, because eight months ago the project was just a bet. But now to be fresh one with a completely new car, I think we still need to unlock lot of potential to be in the top 5. Fighting with Ferrari, Mercedes seems a little bit unreal, but we take it for sure.”
Fernando Alonso is confident of claiming a podium in the Bahrain GP
Despite qualifying fifth on the grid, Fernando Alonso believes his team can aim for more in the race. The Spaniard said they never expected to be above midfield and were thrilled with their performance in qualifying. Alonso's long runs and race simulations in the practice sessions evenly matched Max Verstappen.
On his expectations from the race, the Spaniard said:
“Yeah I agree. It feels so strange to say that we start P5 or maybe we are aiming for more. We thought to be honest that the first three teams were untouchable this year, with the advantage they had last year and (we ) maybe try to lead the midfield and mix the midfield. But now we say we start P5 and fight with Ferrari for the podiums, this is just incredible. Let’s just keep them going just keep working. Keep the feet on the ground and execute the race with no mistakes, good starts, good pit stops and let’s see where we are. But so far we are living a dream.”
Asked if there was a need to downplay his expectations, Fernando Alonso said:
“I mean in practice we knew we were third or fifth or fourth, we did not know what Ferrari was exactly doing. For sure we knew we were behind Red Bull. But I think it was a couple of milliseconds always, we were in front of them so the positions look too good. But I think now there is not much more to downplay anything, because this is qualifying, all in the same conditions. We are in the mix with Ferrari and Mercedes so again unreal.”
Asked about his thoughts on clinching a podium, Fernando Alonso said:
“Yes let’s see. I’m laughing because going for a podium in race one, it feels again too good to be true. But for sure what we saw so far on our car. Also historically Aston Martin has a very good tire management so if we have an opportunity for sure.”
Tire management has been the forte of the Silverstone team, a department that Sergio Perez highlighted in the post-qualifying press conference. Surprising the paddock all weekend, Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso have both Mercedes and Ferrari worried for the season opener.
