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Fernando Alonso has had the perfect start to his time with his new team Aston Martin after parting ways with Alpine at the end of 2022. The Spaniard bagged a phenomenal podium finish behind the two Red Bulls in the season opener in Bahrain. Despite starting in the third row, Alonso pushed his Aston Martin to the absolute limit to grab third position in the race.
In a post-race media interaction, with the biggest smile on his face, Fernando Alonso said:
"It is amazing for the team. It was great. To come here and finish on the podium in the first race of the year, it is amazing what Aston Martin did over the winter to have the second-best car on race one. This is just unreal! We had not the best start today and we had to pass on track. It was more exciting, more adrenaline."
Fernando Alonso's decision to replace four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin seemed like quite a questionable one, given the significant difference in the performance of both teams up until the end of the 2022 F1 season. However, it is safe to say that this decision certainly worked in his favor.
Lewis Hamilton says he is "really happy" for formal rival Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have had quite a rocky history since the time the Briton made his F1 debut with McLaren as a team-mate to the two-time world champion. Despite this, the Mercedes driver admitted that he was happy to see the progress made by Alonso's new team Aston Martin, emphasizing that it is good to have the Spaniard back in the mix at the top after several years.
As reported by the BBC, Lewis Hamiton spoke about the impressive outing Aston Marting had during qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix, saying:
"I am genuinely happy for Aston. It's amazing to see their progress, the steps that they've taken. I'm really happy for Fernando because he's been here way longer than me and it's good to have him back in the mix. Hopefully we'll get some good races. They have pretty much the whole back end of our car, they have half our car. So it's definitely not great for us."
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also acknowledged the progress made by the Silverstone-based team, saying:
"Whatever is between us and pole is less relevant because now Fernando is there, we can only take our hats off to what they achieved. They gained two seconds in half a year and their car is half ours, from the engine and gearbox and rear suspension, and [using] the same wind tunnel. We just have to acknowledge they have done an outstanding job."
Aston Martin were at the bottom end of the midfield last season, having finished seventh in the constructors' standings, while Fernando Alonso's former team, Alpine, finished fourth. The two teams seem to have switched positions in quite a way this season, given the French outfit's underwhelming performance in the season opener as compared to Aston Martin's charge to the top.
