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Fernando Alonso feels the 2023 Singapore GP race was one to forget, given Aston Martin's shoddy execution and performance woes at the Marina Bay circuit. Speaking to Sportskeeda at the post-race press conference, the Spanish driver hoped for a better and more well executed race weekend in Japan.
Coming to Singapore, the Aston Martin car was suppose to be one of the stronger ones in the midfield pack, as stated by many drivers, including Fernando Alonso, in Monza.
Contrary to expectations, however, the Silverstone team had an underwhelming outcome, with their weekend hampered by bad pit stops, poor strategy and lack of performance throughout all sessions.
Asked by Sportkseeda to summarise his underwhelming weekend, Fernando Alonso said:
“Obviously we didn’t have the pace, that we were hoping. And too many things, a mistake going into the pit-lane, a sloppy stop, traffic. All in one race. So yeah. A race to forget, as I said all in one race, thats a good thing. Hopefully we can get rid of all these bad things, learn from those and get back in Japan.”
On whether it was setup or overall performance issues that affected them, the Spanish driver said:
“We need to look at it because the car was very difficult to drive, very little rear ended on the car. We killed the tyres very quickly after the pitstop. So it was a tough race, obviously we need to look at the details, we dont have the answers yet. But we need get better in Japan.”
On where it went wrong despite the pre-race anticipation of being competitive at this circuit, Fernando Alonso said:
“Yeah I don’t know. We all expected a strong weekend in Singapore. It’s not the case. Maybe in Japan we dont expect magic there and we get a nice surprise. Let’s hope for that.”
Fernando Alonso felt that there were multiple areas they lacked in during the race particularly the pitstop which cost him a lot of positions. Finishing 15th in the Singapore GP outside the points wasn’t the ideal outcome for the Spanish driver who had qualified seventh on the grid. After Lance Stroll’s high impact crash in the qualifying, the double champion was the lone Aston Martin running in the race.
Bemoaning his performance, he felt it was better to mount lesser expectations from the Japanese GP, so that it could prove likewise. The veteran was also handed a five second penalty during the race for crossing the white line at the pit lane entry.
Complaining about the rear end stability of his car, Fernando Alonso claimed that their tires wore out too soon during the race. The former world champion was running far up as P8 until the pitstop dropped him several places outside the points.
Wanting to put the shoddy weekend behind him, he felt it was better to focus on the weekend ahead in Suzuka. He achieved a unique milestone of completing 100,000 kilometers of race distance in an F1 car.
Fernando Alonso says technical directive did not hamper Aston Martin’s performance in Singapore
Fernando Alonso has said the new technical directive from the FIA has not interefered with Aston Martin's performance.
The technical directive required several teams to make changes to their cars in Singapore, but the double world champion stated that the AMR23 did not need much changing or adaptation. The TD issued by the regulatory body banned the use of any moving elements in the bodywork of the car used to enhance performance.
Asked by Sportskeeda if the new technical directive hampered their cars, Fernando Alonso said:
“No for us it was not a change in anything. We didn’t have to adapt anything so we are happy with that.”
With Red Bull performing poorly at the Marina Bay circuit, Fernando Alonso predicted that the reigning world champions will dominate in Japan. Citing the instances from the past where Mercedes were weak in Singapore during their dominant reign, the Spaniard felt that this was a one-off race where Red Bull struggled.
Asked if Red Bull struggling in Singapore was any consolation, the Spaniard said:
“I think track to track its different. Let’s see in Japan. I expect Red Bull to dominate in Japan to be honest. This is a one-off, Singapore was also not good for Mercedes in the past when they were dominating the championship. So its a very special race weekend. We we were hoping for more in our case, we didn’t deliver. Let’s hope in Japan to get better.”
The Singapore GP result has dropped Fernando Alonso from third place in the championship to fourth. He now trails Lewis Hamilton by ten points and Sergio Perez by 43 points in the driver’s championship.
Aston Martin’s poor weekend has demoted them to fourth in the constructor’s standings, two spots down from the second place where they started the 2023 season. The Silverstone team are now 48 points behind Ferrari, who have had two strong weekends.
